Of Leather and Laces
by Socha28
Summary: Everyone knew who Alex Vause the sleek, fearsome pitcher of the Litchfield Lions. In the Varsity Softball world, the mere mentioning of her name was enough to give anyone nightmares. But no one ever thought her fear factor would falter when a new edition hit the field and her college dreams would fall in jeopardy. And no one knew how all this would scare star pitcher Alex Vause
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: _Hello friends! It's been so long and I am so excited to share this new work with you. After being uninspired for a while, I got the idea to write this because I was going through old boxes and I found my old softball bat and I became a sentimental little bitch. So naturally, I decided to take that organic moment and use it to make a fanfiction about lesbians. Anyway, it'll take me a chapter or two to kinda warm up and kick into high gear and I'll most likely go back and revamp it later on. So just give me a little time I know it's not too flawless But for now, start with this. I may not have time to update as often as I would like, but I will try to do it. So I hope you enjoy it! Love you, ~S_

 _Also! I uploaded my other fic Coffee and Other Forms of Poison to Inkkit for a fandom contest to it would be super rad if you could vote for it. Link in my bio. So yeah. Bam._

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Chapter one

 _"Fuck." The word hissed between her gleaming teeth as it went up in the cold air along with her breath. She slapped her leather glove hard against her already bruised thigh. Half bruised from timing her earlier pitches, half from frustration. She wiped a cold bead of sweat from her forehead and clenched her ungloved fist to bottle up any more profanities. Heat was building up inside her and the catcher across the way felt it radiating off of her, despite their distance. And because she felt it, the catcher peeled off her mask and started to untangle the Velcro from her wild auburn hair._

 _"Come on, Alex. It wasn't that bad." She winced as she ripped the harsh material from her hair. "And plus you can't curse too loud right now we'll get caught."_

 _Alex rolled her eyes at that._

 _It wasn't too late. Eight or Nine at most. But it was far too late for two girls at the tender age of twelve to be out alone. Not that their parents would care, but they knew there'd be some parent or authority who'd be more than willing to ruin their post-practice pitching party._

 _And pedophiles._

 _There was that problem too._

 _"I didn't snap my wrist and my release was too late. Something I could've fixed." Alex yanked her sweaty hand out of her humid glove and let it feel the shock of icy air._ _The wild-haired girl sighed and pulled her hand out of her own glove, stretching and curling her achy fingers and shaking the kinks out of her wrist._

 _"You're acting like a baby. It's way past practice, you pitched for an hour before, and they were change u_ ps, _might_ _I add, your shoulder probably hates you-"_

 _She was right. Her delts was screaming at her. Completely dull with knots yet completely enraged from strain. Alex's warm hand immediately went to massage it when her friend said those words._

 _"-And also you're still mad at coach for not putting you in."_

 _Alex furrowed her brow at that at that._

 _"No I'm not."_

 _"Hm."_

 _"I'm not!" Alex let out a huff of leftover anger from last week. She tore out her ponytail from her chestnut shaded hair, not caring about the strands that came out with it. It wasn't like she was a being a brat about it. She had every right to feel the weight of all the frustration and confusion combined from what happened that dreaded day. She was the best on the team. Simple as that. And everyone knew it. For twelve years old, she could wipe the floor with the JV baseball team of the high school down the street. So when Coach didn't put her in, no one had a clue what was going on in her head. When the team read the lineup and Alex wasn't on the mound, the whole dugout fell silent. Eyes bounced around to find each other in confusion and the whole game, not a single word escaped into the air. The outfield was dead. Nicky didn't catch anything. And Alex was on the verge of tears at First._

 _The half-armored catcher smiled softly, pushing back her mane of hair behind her ears and walked over to Alex, who was massaging her angered shoulder and pacing around in aimless circles._

 _"You're not a brat, Vause. Fuck the lineup. You're the best and you know it." Alex failed to suppress her smile._

 _"Thanks, Nicky."_

 _Nicky laughed when she saw that smile creep across her friend's thin cheeks._

 _"There she is!" She poked her stomach and the pitcher recoiled, whining but smiling brighter than before. "Now do one more and then we'll call it a night."_

 _Nicky shuffled back over to her spot in front of the fence, her shin guards clunking in her steps and she pulled her glove back over her hand. Alex did the same as she cracked her knuckles against her hip. The catcher lobbed the bright yellow ball to her and she caught it with ease. Alex's freed and sweat-laden hair blew along with the gust of gentle wind that settled over them for a moment._

 _Nicky squatted back behind their make-shift batter's box, putting up her glove for the pitcher to see._

 _Alex closed her fire-filled eyes and found her grip on the laces. Then she opened them and saw the batter and the blue collared ump. Just waiting for what she had to give._

 _She inhaled a slow, cool breath and let it out slower through her mouth, allowing a chilled drop of sweat to surge down from her forehead to her neck._

 _She took a moment to remember everything. To snap her wrist. To explode forward. To follow through._

 _And then she took a moment to forget it all._

 _She loaded back on her leg, the catcher's senses heightening even more than before._

 _She slapped her thigh for timing._

 _And then she let it fly._

 _/_

The ball went straight to the pocket of Nicky's glove, dust arising from the leather from the harsh impact.

Alex's forested eyes were still dark from the moment of raw concentration her friend's almond ones mirrored the tint.

The fiery haired coach stood next to Nicky, speedometer in hand. She inched her thin glasses further up her nose and then brought her iron eyes to Alex.

They remained in eye contact for a chilling moment before the Russian woman released her red lips into a subtle smirk.

"Sixty-five."

Nicky's jaw dropped and her eyes instantly freed themselves from all seriousness. She let out a howl of excitement as Alex smiled in doubt.

"No. No way you're fucking with me ." Alex trotted over to the coach who was smiling too and rolling her eyes back into her lids.

"Language. And why would I lie about something like that?" Her thick accent chided as the tall brunette peered over her shoulder.

Alex's eyes kindled her pale cheeks as she laughed in even more disbelief. At seventeen years old, she sported jet black locks and she'd grown about a foot and a half. And her arm certainly matured along with her height and hairstyle decisions. After years of working out the kinks in her game and pitch, she held a permanent spot as first in the lineup and first on the mound in every game. Thus causing chronic numbness in her right shoulder and an abnormally knot-laden (yet muscular) back. She and Nicky would sneak in the school on the weekends to use the weight room, (which they knew was _definitely_ illegal _)_ and then they'd steal ice bags from the grocery store and use them for baths (which they also were aware, was _illegal_.) She knew all this softball madness would take her somewhere. From the moment she first swung off a tee at nine with the neighborhood boys. All the late night post-pitching parties, playing catch outside, batting practice, bruises, injuries, bone-chilling baths, and minor felonies would take her somewhere eventually. And so far it's taken her to sixty-five miles an hour and a crazy batting average of .446.

Or even _college_.

Holy _shit_.

The thought of playing college ball was more than fucking _insane_ to her.

She imagined the look on her mother's face when she would hold the sacred letter in her hands. The tears that would stream down her face as she signed her full name on the contract. The pride that would settle deep into her bones when she'd put on the jersey. To finally make that transition from Litchfield Lion to whoever the hell she'd represent. It all would seem unreal.

But with sixty-five miles and hour,

it could happen.

Nicky stood up to join her, nudging her toned shoulder to substitute a "congratulations."

"Good work, Vause." Red smacked Alex's side to send her back to the dugout.

"Thanks, Red." The pitcher called back as she trotted off.

"Hey, what about me? I caught that thing and Jesus fuck, did it hurt!" Nicky protested and she shook out her hand.

Red smiled down at the fiery girl. A smile spread across her wise cheeks and she rubbed Nicky's shoulder.

"You did good, Nicky."

Nicky smiled back, almost coyly.

"Thanks."

And she scampered off.

/

"What?! Nah nah that's not happenin'. You talkin' bullshit." Taystee rolled her brown eyes as she took a long sip of Gatorade. She wiped the sugary blueness from the corner of her lip with her ebony hand and continued to shake her head.

"No, I promise that's what I heard!" The skinnier, lighter-skinned girl protested. A far larger girl in the opposite corner let out a short, obnoxious laugh.

"Poussey, you trippin'. Ain't nobody joinin' this team. We maxed out."

Poussey ran a palm over her wooly head as the two girls continued to laugh and shout over each other.

"Hey, don't laugh." A small New York accent piped from the floor as she polished the barrel her pink-decaled Easton. "I mean sure, another team member seems a bit unlikely, but it could happen."

"Morello, you so gentle. You know this clown's pullin' ya leg." Taystee pushed Poussey's cheek and continued to laugh.

Morello shrugged her petite shoulders at an outnumbered Poussey, who looked to her for backup.

Alex strode in the dugout just in time.

"What's happening?" She asked coolly as she set her glove in her cubby and fished out a water bottle from her beaten duffle.

The four of them began speaking all at once and all sides of the story overwhelmed the echoey walls. Nicky followed in behind Alex, perplexity plaguing her dusty face.

"What's uh.."

"I don't know."

Nicky sighed as she walked over to her bag next to Alex's and grabbed her bat from inside. She flipped the barrel over and caught it again at the grips with ease. And with a few sharp whacks against a bucket, the dugout went quiet.

"Okay, thank you. Now can someone please explain _calmly_ what's happening."

With complete disregard to Nicky's proposal, the three stooges began telling their side of what happened as Morello sat quietly and raised her hand.

" _Thank you_ , Morello, for being a _good_ model of what _should_ have happened." Nicky brought her annoyed glare to the three girls, who rolled their eyes quietly.

" _Thank you_ , Nicky, for calling on me." Morello turned to the girls behind her. "Cindy, Taystee, Poussey, you're welcome to place your input after I'm finished."

" _Thank you_ , Morello, for including us." Cindy pursed her lips and tilted her head to the side, Taystee mirroring her action.

Alex had to bite back her amusement as she sat down on top of the bench.

"Well," the small girl began, "Poussey here claimed that she heard Red talking to a guy a couple of days ago saying that there's gonna be a new girl."

"Because it's true-" Poussey tried to tag on, but was promptly shushed by Nicky.

"And then, Cindy and Taystee didn't believe her and were laughing and all. And now you're here." Morello ended her story with a smile and a sweet head tilt.

It wasn't long before Alex noticed Nicky staring at the other girl's rosy lips as she licked her own, completely hypnotized.

She hadn't listened to a thing.

So, Alex stepped in.

"Okay so comments." Taystee's hand shot up and Alex nodded her approval.

"We all know that Poussey is messin' because we already have a team and we killin' it as is. So why would Red bring in another girl?" Cindy popped her tongue in agreement.

"Excellent point." Alex called on Poussey.

"Yeah, but I saw her with my own two eyes. They were talking serious shit like forreal."

The clamor arose again and Alex resigned as conversation leader.

Until Red joined in.

"And you're right. I am bringing in another girl. She starts next week." Red brought her glasses to the crown of her crimson head and clicked her pen closed.

The whole dugout hung in dead air.

A whole mix of disbelief, disdain, confusion, anger and a mess of other unnamed emotions began to pump through the team's veins.

Cindy and Poussey looked at each other in disbelief and Morello stopped her bat polishing.

"Wait _what_?" Alex whipped her head around to look back at Nicky, who was also beyond bewilderment. "Why?"

"That's none of your business. This is my ship. I decide what's best."

"But that's not-" Nicky started, but backed away with her tail between her legs at Red's stony glare.

"Finish up around here. Batting drills off the machine are next."

No one moved.

Everyone was still.

"Well, hurry up! Time is money!" Red's voice startled everyone back into a hazy reality. Everyone moved with haste and purpose, making their way out to the clay. But no one let out a murmur. No one dared cough or sneeze or even swallow.

They all were too sick with frustration.

And Red knew.

/

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 _Be sure to leave your reviews and follow or favorite or do whatever you do if you like something! Lots of love ~S_


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's note: Hello again! I know it hasn't been long, but this is hot off the press. I've decided to make the chapters a whole lot longer so I can pack more meat into them and keep decent time gaps in between. And also I was going back and forth between and M and T rating, but I decided to go with M because it makes room for more fun. This chapter is more of another segway into the plot and I hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! I love reading your reviews so feel free to do so. Love you ~S_

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Chapter two

Alex's tray smacked harshly against the grimy cafeteria tables when she took a fervid seat next to Nicky and across from Morello the following day, startling the pride of Lions and causing her black rimmed glasses to fall askew.

"I haven't been able to sleep all fucking night. What the fuck is Red thinking?" Alex lashed out at a pathetic chunk of mystery meat with her plastic fork. She shoveled the gravy-bathed victim in her mouth, ignoring the putrid taste. The itching question at hand was something everyone on the team had pondered within the last hour. Nothing in the godforsaken planet would have provoked Red enough to just bring in another girl _without trying her out._ And the mere idea of another Lion was so vexing, it was borderline _painful_. The question still floated about them as Alex continued to stab at her prison-worthy meal. Cindy shrugged her hefty shoulders as she hunched back over her lasagne, averting any and all eye contact with the livid girl.

The cafeteria was buzzing with people as usual. Meat-headed jocks occupying one corner of the musty vicinity, preps and do-gooders in the other. But despite all the meaningless commotion that hummed about them, the team's frustration, whether voiced or silent, seemed to occupy the entire place. The whole day leading up to the long-awaited lunch period seemed to pass over in a dull sepia kind of light. Economics seemed staler than usual. The math lesson tempted agonizing migraines to press around their temples. The water fountain water's nauseating metallic overtone seemed way more abrasive than normal. Hallway traffic seemed more congested. It felt as if the all the discontentment and defeat rode arrogantly upon their shoulders. Their bones felt heavy beneath their skin, making the perpetual soreness along their delts and biceps sting more than usual. And moreover,

It was a Tuesday.

Taystee released a puff of stress from the depths of her stocky body and folded her arms across her chest.

"Don't even remind me. I got enough to worry about." That triggered a bark of laughter from Cindy.

"Mmhm like what? Curlin' up in bed and kickin' it with your Harry Potter smut or is there somethin' else y'all wanna share?" Taystee flushed with a mix of embarrassment and anger as the table bubbled up in a swell of hilarity and hollering. Poussey drummed her hands against the table and blared a makeshift air horn that consisted of her own voice and her fist. Nicky clapped a hand over her mouth and her eyes widened and even Alex couldn't contain the snickers that managed to slip. Cindy took a firm smack on the shoulder from Taystee across the table.

"You fuckin' went through my tabs? Bitch, that shit's personal!" She continued to pile on slaps with the calloused palms of her hands until her fingers were numb and tingling.

"That's why you put a password on ya phone, dumbass!" Taystee gave a doubled over Cindy a final swat on the side of her head before returning back down to her seat, still boiling over with humiliation. Poussey wiped a tear that glossed over her duct before refocusing the conversation.

"Aight as much as roastin' Taystee's ass is fun as shit, we gotta regroup. Real talk." Alex un-neeedingly adjusted her glasses, genuinely impressed by the slim girl's ability to reign in the commotion. And she had to give credit where credit was due.

"Thank you." Alex nodded to her across the way. The girls took a second to catch their fleeting breaths and regain seriousness, even minutes after the discovery of Taystee's _magically guilty_ pleasures. The table was silent for a few arid moments. As if the winds anything and everything anti-epiphany related blew above them for a while. Eyes darted to the right or left of the faces around them or glued themselves to the ceiling or floor. Blunt nails drummed against the table and passive sighs filled the empty space of idea-less air.

"Well, I mean, is a new girl _so_ problematic?" All eyes attacked the petite little New-York-Italian who bore a nervous smile.

"What do you mean _is a new girl problematic?_ It's terrible news!" Nicky finished up the last of her Diet Coke before crushing the can with her hand. Morello's eyebrows bent upon each other and her smile began to fade.

"I think you're being a little dramatic." Nicky scoffed and tossed the can behind her head, hitting a passing prep on its descent.

"Hey, watch where you throw," The Lacoste-hampered boy hissed with a pretty blonde on his arm.

"Watch where you walk," The catcher didn't even bother to turn and look at them.

"You should find some class," the boy continued on his way through the cafeteria, the doe-eyed girl still turning back to steal glances at the table members.

She almost looked _curious._

But none of them seemed to notice.

"Okay, Tommy Hilfucker." Nicky scoffed and started on a bag of chips.

And just like that, their interaction ended and abruptly as it began.

And the Lions refocused _even faster_ than that.

"So, why is a new girl a bad thing. Guys, I really think you're being paranoid," Morello's feminine voice chided. She was twisting a short lock of her mousy hair between her dainty fingers and looked around shyly. Even in her intense frustration, Alex couldn't help but smile in amusement at the little thing's natural coyness. But she had to push any outside opinions of cute little Morello aside and bring down the hammer. As any good leader would.

She raise her glasses to the crown of her head and began her spiel.

"Okay. Think with me here. We have this-" Alex stopped to scour the corners of her brain for a simplified name for what she was trying to convey. "Let's just call it a ' _complex system'_. That's entirely reliant on how we interact with each other. If you take one person out or add another one in, it ruins _everything._ See, if you took away…" Her green eyes scanned the table for a subject for her analogy, but a mix of laziness to explain the effect of someone's disappearance on the _complex system_ and impatience to get to the point got the better of her. She shook her head and continued. "Whatever. But the point is, if you add someone or take someone out, something would be different. And it just wouldn't feel right. You know?"

"Like a ecosystem" Taystee added before crunching down on a potato chip, over annunciating the word _ecosystem._ Alex motioned her approval and returned her focus back to a bewildered Morello.

"But don't new animals join the ecosystem? Like don't they all kinda do life in the jungle or wherever _together_?"

Alex's sigh made her seem like she deflated entirely, like a balloon. A defeated, confused, and slightly irritated balloon. She massaged the achy corners of her eyes and closed her torpid lids.

"Someone help me out," She waved her hand and opened up the topic for more elaboration. Cindy was the first to take the reigns.

"Listen, boo. It's taken us forever to make our ' _complex system'_ the way it is. Example: Sure, Pennsatucky needs a minute to chill every now and then," the hot-blooded girl she was referring to shot Cindy a baffled and almost _offended_ look.

" _But"_ Cindy raised a finger before anyone could protest. "That's what my girl Butchy Boo's here for," she motioned to _Big_ Boo. And even though Cindy failed to get her name right, _Big_ Boo and everyone else shrugged in mellow agreement.

"I'll take that," the solid butch responded as she continued on her food. Pennsatucky considered what Cindy said for a moment before she adjusted the gray hood covering her head and leaned in closer to the table.

"That's actually a great point 'cuz like I never woulda considered befriendin' to any a y'all kitten charmers if it wasn't for the wisdom of my ironically gay ally here." She patted Boo's thick shoulder. Though the input wasn't _exactly_ relevant, the Lions still nodded their heads. At this point, _any_ point was relevant if it meant getting Morello on the same page.

" 'Specially you, Lurch." Pennsatucky pointed a finger at Alex, who raised a thin eyebrow in turn. Simply, not interested in an explanation, Alex took in a breath and brushed the rogue comment aside.

"Glad it's behind us." She pressed her lips into a fine line to feign a smile of sorts.

It worked, as the topic was dropped instantaneously.

"I mean I see what you guys are sayin' but I think we should just be nice," Morello shrugged as another wave of uproar washed over them. Nicky's head completely collapsed on the table as she drew out a lamenting groan. Alex pressed her cold hands flat against the back of her burning neck, letting her head hang low. Everyone began speaking all at once and the little Italian shied away in her seat. And when the bell rang, the Lions left lunch unsatisfied. With a distressing question and another three hours left its torment.

/

Practice after school had never been so dreary. The harsh November air sank its serrated fangs into their jacketed skin and their heated bodies were nowhere near warm enough. Their sweat was burning cold and seemed to freeze against them. The biting pain from their numb hands ringing against their aluminum bats was harrowing. Everyone scorched their tongues and throats from trying to gulp down their hot beverages. And Red in the cold was not so pleasant either.

But the dreadful day took a turn when Alex got a hand on the Russian's clipboard.

It was after fielding drills when Alex went to get another splash of her boiling tea. She winced as she swallowed down the molten lava in her thermos and skimmed the place for anyone. And in her skimming, her lucky green eyes found the prize. Like a small beacon of light hidden beneath a tattered glove.

She felt her pupils dilate and her stomach twist itself into an anxious knot.

Without thinking, she flipped hastily through the papers attached to it. Past drills, tournament calendars, other miscellaneous sheets of paper that weren't important, until her eyes fell upon a stray slip of paper she was never intended to see.

 _xxx-xxx-xxxx_

Just the number.

And something told her that that number was fucking _important._

Alex's quivering hand immediately dove into her nearby duffle and her blind hand felt around for her phone, eyes still locked on the slip of paper. She fumbled with it for a while before opening her camera. Her hands shook as miniature bursts of adrenaline pumped through her fingertips. She took a burst of photos of the number and hoped to whatever deity that at least one of them came out clear. After taking a moment to regulate her heartbeat and clip the number back in place, she saw a spot of fiery hair in the distance. She picked up her paper adjusting pace and found herself floundering around with the clipboard as the blur of red drew nearer. And in a flash of setting the thing back under the glove, tossing her phone in her bag, and sprinting like mad back onto the field, she was doing wrist snaps to Nicky on the lush green of left field. Looking as focused and composed as the rest of the Lions.

As if there was nothing to be suspicious of.

As if nothing ever happened.

/

Nicky was packing her bat into her bag when Alex pulled her aside by her ear.

"Ah! The fuck Vause!" the catcher rubbed her angered cartilage as Alex was realizing her unnecessary action.

"Sorry. But this is important."

"No shit it's important. You pulled my fuckin' ear for it, you know how much that hurts."

"I'm serious, listen." Alex motioned for her to come closer with her finger, to which she complied. "I got my hands on Red's clipboard today-" That was enough for Nicky to clap a hand over her mouth to stop up her disbelief. Alex smacked a hand on top of Nicky's too and hushed her astonishment. Her un-spectacled eyes peered around for any possible eavesdroppers. And when she decided that everyone else was too busy to listen to their conversation, she removed her hand from the top of Nicky's. The catcher left her hand there for another heartbeat before finally removing them to speak.

"You _what?!"_ Her words were barely a whisper, but all the inflection came through in the shocked expression on her sooty face.

"Yeah, and I found something." Alex scanned around the dugout once again to make sure no one still listening. A silent moment passed between them and Nicky's expression was still frozen in amazement.

"Well are you gonna _tell_ me or are you just gonna leave me hangin'?!" Nicky said just above a murmur. Alex rolled her eyes and let out an exasperated sigh through her nose.

"I found a phone number and I think it may have to do with this new girl."

"You gonna call it?"

"I think so. Wanna join?" Alex's lips pulled up into a sly smirk and her green eyes darkened. Nicky's mischievous grin was her resounding agreement.

/

Straight to voicemail.

It went straight to fucking voicemail.

And when it did, Nicky let out a groan of defeat while Alex settled for a more withdrawn " _fuck_."

But they weren't done yet.

 _At least Alex wasn't._

/

The next day at school, Alex refrained from pulling Nicky's ear and settled for the back of her shirt instead.

"Hey, you doing anything tonight?" She had a cigarette dangling loosely between her lips and she was exploring in the front pocket of her backpack for a lighter. Nicky itched her perplexed brow as she watched Alex kindle the smoke.

"No, why?"

"I need you to break in the school with me tonight." This time, Nicky didn't care to lower her voice, in contrast with their last conversation.

"Vause, come on. Now you're just being paranoid." Alex took a casual drag and blew out the smoke with a groan.

"Come on, I really think this number means something. We can get some good information." Nicky broke eye contact to roll back her almond irises back into her head. "You know how bad this can be. If she's bad, we'd have to slow down for her. If she's good, she'll take up all the attention and guess who won't get a single glance from colleges." Alex pointed at the both of them. Nicky's lip pulled down in agreement.

"And no matter how good or how bad she is, she's gonna fuck up the system anyway. So we might as well figure her out. You know you're just as concerned about this as I am. Don't fucking lie to yourself." Alex took another slower drag and her piercing eyes didn't leave Nicky's pondering ones.

It wasn't Nicky's concern for the _complex system_ that finally pushed her to agree. It was the deluge of uncertainty behind Alex's mossy eyes that really swayed her. Because as tough or intimidating as her tall friend was, deep down she knew Alex was _scared_ as _shit_. Scared that she wouldn't get the scholarship that had been dangling in front of her since freshman year. Scared that she wouldn't be able to give Diane the life she deserved. Scared that she'd end up a lifeless deadbeat like her father. Nicky knew that she could pay tuition easy, but she'd been to the Vauses' tiny one-bedroom apartment in the worst part of town and knew well enough Alex didn't have that luxury. So Nicky surrendered. Because it pained Nicky to think that all her best friend's work would be for nothing.

Nicky muttered an inaudible profanity and sighed through her nose.

" _Fine_. Now me."

Alex scoffed as Nicky plucked the cigarette from her lips and brought it to her own.

/

"Come on hurry up. It's cold as fuck out here," Nicky was stomping in place stimulate the blood flow to her legs as Alex was picking the lock of the school's back door with a bent hairpin.

"Jesus just give me a sec." Alex stopped to warm her hands for a moment before returning to her job. And after a few more moments in the blasting cold and in a click of a lock, they were in the warmth of their abandoned school. The vacant halls were a lurid black and it took them a minute for their eyes to readjust. Walking through the desolate place was haunting. Like walking through a graveyard. The two were so used to all the pandemonium and stuffy hallway traffic, that seeing their halls void of life was more than chilling to them. Chilling enough to make their stomachs churn a bit.

Alex was striding far ahead of Nicky as they passed deserted classrooms. The catcher cursed her short legs and trotted up to Alex's long-legged pace.

"So what's the plan," Nicky stuffed her hands deep into her pockets and she followed her friend.

"I don't have one." Nicky stopped in her tracks.

"We break in here and you _don't_ fucking have a _plan?"_ That made Alex stop in her's and turn on her heels to face the other girl.

"I'm improvising. And we break in here all the time what difference does it make?" Alex turned back around and kept walking.

The smaller girl huffed and cantered to meet her once again.

A few doors down and one lock later they were in the administration's office, kneeling next to a file cabinet.

"Okay, so what was the last name in the voicemail?" Alex opened up the drawer full of Manila folders, ready to learn about Red's addition.

"Chapman." Only a few seconds after that, Alex had her hands on a folder and was opening it up. Nicky peered over her broad shoulder to get a peek.

"Okay," Alex adjusted her slipping glasses and glided her finger across the pages. "Piper Elizabeth Chapman. Transferred in October. And has a _4.5 GPA?"_ Alex had to re-read that line, just to make sure she didn't see the numbers correctly

"Those go that high?" Nicky said as scooted in closer to see the appalling number. Alex shrugged and pushed her glasses up again. "Probably sucked someone off to tack on the extra .5."

Alex couldn't help but mentally agree.

The two continued to skim over Piper's information. And thus far, their main take-away was that she was fucking _perfect_.

It made them hate her even _more._

They heard a heavy door slam in the distance. Both of their shoulders jolted and they locked their widened eyes. Then they heard nearing footsteps and a whistled melody echoing down the halls. Their hearts caught up in their throats and Alex took in a full bodied breath in attempts to coax it back down.

"What time is it?" The wild-haired girl stage whispered. A mostly unshaken Alex glanced at the glowing screen of her phone as she swallowed down her excess adrenaline.

"2:13."

"Why the fuck is someone in here? Security doesn't come 'till 5! Shit, _Alex!"_ Nicky's blood was still firing like bullets through her veins. "Come on we gotta get out." Alex hastily tucked the papers back in the file and dropped it back in the metal drawer. She clicked the cabinet lock back on the handle, sure to cup her hands over it to mute the sound. And in a split second they were peering around the corner, watching the tall dancing shadow on the wall sway back and forth against the white wall. They couldn't tell who it was or why it was whistling in the vacant halls of a high school at two in the morning. But all they cared about was escaping the situation with their reeling heads still attached to their necks.

"Alex, there's no way in hell we're gonna get out of here. We're fucked!" Nicky pulled the back Alex's black band shirt back into the hallway. The tall girl released a sigh through her nose and looked up to the ceiling for inspiration.

"Come on. I got an idea." Alex started down the short corridor and stopped in front of an office at the end of the hall. She fished out her trusty black hairpin from the depths of her pockets and picked away at the lock in quick, silent prods. Seconds later, she gave the wooden door a hefty push with her shoulder and they were in. They crept over to a window behind the paper-drowned desk and Alex squatted to unhinge the stubborn locks.

"I need you to spit." Nicky looked at her, bewildered.

"Huh?"

"I _need_ you. To _spit."_ She pointed a finger at the sides of the window. "So when we open it, it won't squeak and we don't get our asses chased down the block."

Too rushed and ruffled to argue, the catcher began spitting against the rusty hinges, sure to cover an entire area before moving on to the next. When Alex tapped her shin to let her know she was ready, Nicky bent down and got a grip on the sides of the old window. She turned to Alex, fully focused. The flickering street lamps outside hit her friend's face just right so she could see her mouthing the count of three. And on that final, street-lit count, they soundlessly pushed the rigid thing up. Alex crawled through and slid down first and Nicky followed, clicking the window shut behind her. And as soon as the catcher's feet hit the black pavement, the fugitives were speeding like mad down the sleeping avenue, feet and legs like pumping machinery.

/

" _Piper Elizabeth Chapman_ ," Cindy mused in a mock aristocrat voice, stroking an invisible beard. "She sounds like a hoe." She broke character to let out a scoff and take a bite of her food.

"Well, I guess she's a _smart_ one. Had a 4.5 GPA." Alex pulled open a bag of potato chips, a bent expression painting her face at the scarcity of chips.

"Those go that high?" Poussey's jaw dropped a bit and Nicky motioned her avid agreement.

"I still don't know why you're being so harsh about this. I mean maybe she's not _that bad_ or maybe she's even a _good person_ ," Morello said as she spooned chocolate pudding in her mouth. Nicky was watching her lips with sheer intent, but pried herself of the rosy sight to respond.

"Listen, I know you're the nice one here and we all look like huge assholes, but trust me, we're gonna plummet if we get someone new. The whole team dynamic is gonna turn on its head and there goes our 4-year streak of state champions."

"Well, what do you suppose we do to get rid of her, eh? Red's not gonna take her out just because we don't like her," the little Italian raised a snarky brow at them and drummed her nails against the table. All eyes wandered over to Alex, who raised her glasses to her head as she thought.

"We have three days till she starts and two weeks until tournaments start. And in those two weeks, we shun her and make her look like an idiot. So Red has no choice but to kick her off. The plan will be revisited next week. But for now, we just stay focused. _All_ of us." Heads were subtly nodding up and down as everyone turned to Morello, holding their breaths simultaneously.

Morello ground down on her crucifix pendant with her front teeth and mulled over the arguments made. She squinted her coffee shaded eyes until they were caged behind her long lashes as her lips naturally pursed.

The girls looked at her anxiously, painful silence circulating about them.

Morello couldn't just choose _not_ to side with them. For one, that was the equivalent turning against her family. But the most prevalent reason against her disagreement with them was because she had a keen sense of pity. At one point, _she_ was the new girl. _She_ had to choose the dusty, shameful cubby in the back corner of the dugout. _She_ faced being the blame for lost tournaments and being the scapegoat for Red's punishments. And with a ripped open chest and burning quads, _she_ had to find where she fit in. But now, Morello held her firm place in the ecosystem. The team wouldn't dare put anyone else at Second Base. But most importantly, she learned that the Lions made people earn their loyalty through sweat and borderline emotional trauma. And for the sake of this _Piper Elizabeth Chapman_ , Morello decided to go with the flow. Because she _pitied_ her. Because she wanted to _protect_ her. Even though she had no idea who she was protecting.

"Ehhhh…"

The whole team seemed to lean in a little closer."

" _Fine."_

The bracing silence released itself in a unified sigh of relief. Another wave of uproar washed over them and a good energy rekindled the table. Nicky leaned over the table to grab Morello's brown head and kissed her dainty temple out of sheer impulse.

"But I really think you guys are reading a little too far into this."

"As long as you don't fuck up the plan, you don't have to worry." Alex gave a smug smile and lowered her glasses. Confidence and pride settling in her bones once more.

/

And they did stay focused. Every single one of them.

With the exception of Morello, who they had to remind daily of her loyalty.

But the weekend seemed to blow over their heads and soon enough they were back in the dugout, shuffling about inside and setting their things in their assigned cubbies. Pre-practice ritual was in high gear. Big Boo was stretching her thick arms over her head. Alex was putting in her contacts and placing her delicate glasses inside their velvet case. Pennsatucky was tying the white-made-orange laces of her beaten cleats for the umpteenth time. Crazy Eyes was angrily snapping a ball in her glove. Morello's blood curdling moans reverberated against the ceiling as she foam rolled her the backs of her achy thighs on the dusty floor. And Nicky was perched on the top of the bench, her fingers twitching at the thought of being inside her.

But Crazy Eyes was the first to see the white Escalade roll up to the curb of the field. She tossed the ball in her bag and squinted to see the driver.

"Hey uh, guys?" The Lions stopped their ritual to see what her gloved hand was pointing to. Nicky hopped down from the bench and looped her fingers in the fence as she observed.

"Holy shit," Everyone began to press up against the clinking fence to watch. A tall blonde got out of the front seat with her hair pulled high in a ponytail.

 _"Piper, so it begins,"_ Alex scowled internally.

Her black pants seemed to be free of any stains or wrinkles and her thick, expensive looking pullover matched her navy socks. She shifted her weight over to one hip and twisted her ponytail around her girly looking hand.

"Taylor Swift called, she wants her identity back," Big Boo scoffed. Pennsatucky elbowed her side, even though she was forcing down her lips to suppress a smirk. Then out from behind the driver's seat came her mother. Dressed in skintight thermal leggings and a maroon exercise jacket they assumed she never broke a sweat in. Her hair was also in a sleek ponytail, identical to her daughter's.

"You think her mom's the type to braid our hair and pretend we're all straight or the type to give the kid a rape whistle and a crucifix?" Nicky leaned in closer to the metal cage to see the pair better. Piper walked around to the open truck and slung a quilted and speckled duffle around her thin looking shoulder.

"Did she embroider her duffle? And add iron ons?" Taystee arched the corner of her lip in disapproval, rolling her dark eyes and her head along with them.

"Aye, Poussey. I bet she made that shit with Judy King," Cindy quipped. Poussey's neck snapped to look and the snickering girl and puffed out annoyance from her nose. Then everyone turned to Alex, whose eyes were already narrowed into thin slits. Her knuckles were already a tension charged white as they tightened around the links of the fence. They watched Red fold her arms across her chest as she spoke to mother. And after a few moments, she was back in her Escalade and cruising out of the lot. The Russian pointed over to the dugout and uncrossed her arms, the girl's ponytail bobbing up and down as she nodded. And then they started walking.

Everyone simultaneously went over the details of the plan and sent subliminal messages to Morello _not_ to be a nice person.

They backed away from the fence and acted as if they _weren't_ taking her every move into account.

Then Red and the blonde finally came up to the dugout. The Russian nudged her forward, catching Piper off guard. She stumbled a bit to catch her balance and then looked back at Red.

"Warm up in five," The thick Russian accent asserted in monotone. The girl's eyes were wide as she took in the icy stares of the Lions before her. She swallowed down a bitter taste in her mouth and cleared her throat.

"Uh, hi. Um, I'm Piper. Piper Chapman."

/


	3. Chapter 3

_Author's Notes: (I posted this chapter before but FF and my computer were having technical problems so I deleted it. Also, I know it's long but it's v important)_

 _First of all, Happy Holidays! I celebrate Christmas even though I'm not religious but I wanted to include everyone's holidays in there and I hope you have/had an amazing holiday season. So to celebrate that, I'm going to put in a little holiday special to get a little festive. (I literally wrote the chapter in reindeer antlers w jingle bells) So I hope you guys like that._

 _I'm so sorry this chapter took so long I've been so stressed out with exams and I barely had time to do anything. But I did find some time to sit down with christmas music and my OG Drake and write this. And to compensate this chapter is hella long. Heads up, I'm going back home to NYC for the holidays so I may not be so active in posting the next full chapter. Maybe if I'm lucky, I'll get something done. Keep your fingers crossed. But on an important note: I had an epiphany about the plot and I altered it slightly and changed the teaser. So I'm just testing this out and I'm taking a new direction with it so bear with me. Thank you and I love you._

 _But i have a few homo thoughts i need to share before I continue. feel free to ignore:_

 _-the movie "Carol" looks amazing and I got so excited when I saw that IT WAS NOT HETERO and Sarah Paulson's in it and SHE IS MY MOM so if any of you have seen it PLEASE Pm me thank you_

 _-Hearts to my irl mother who knows I'm gay and laughs when conservative white men ask me if I have a boyfriend. She's the best._

 _-Do you ever have this vague sexual tension with your single friends and you're just like "I'm down if you're down but I'm not going to say anything but let's be really sexual all the time" because deadass, me too._

 _-someone told me the other day told me I look like Sarah Silverman and Laura Prepon's lovechild. So I was like "wow thanks" bc they are among my most favorite people on the planet and so then I went home and did the thing where you mash their faces to see their baby and it looked exactly like me as a toddler. I cried of happiness_

* * *

Chapter 3

They sized her up immediately. Tall, blonde, pretty, rich,

a _bitch._

The vast sea of eyes roving all over her body along with the merciless silence made her want to sink into the cracks of the floor.

"J Crew's down the street, princess," an auburn-haired scoff cut through the sheer tension. The subsequent reaction of snide laughter added to the absolute awfulness of the environment.

Piper felt her chest constrict.

 _"Conversation. Words, Piper. Make friends."_ She reprimanded herself for being so caught up in the nerves of it all.

She tucked back her stubborn bangs behind her ear and inhaled.

"So uh. Is there an empty shelf I can use?" She smiled nervously, scolding herself again for sounding so pathetic. A skinny, grey hooded girl motioned to a cobweb-laden cubby nestled in the back corner. With chipped brown paint and splintered wood.

 _Oh._

The rest of the team agenda was set back into motion, paying no attention to the wide-eyed girl still standing stiffly at the front. Sighing, Piper hoisted the strap of her embroidered duffle higher up on her shoulder as she started in. Her steps were tentative, as if she was trying to line up one foot in front of the other to make a perfect line down the center of the dugout. But each step was marked with all kinds of nerves and wild hysteria that tossed about inside. Her stomach was churning and a pressing feeling caused her to feel heavy. Even though everyone was focusing on their own thing, everyone was eyeing her. From every corner of the place, she was getting once-overed. She swallowed thickly and glued her eyes to the dusty floor, deciding to trust her sense of direction to lead her to the feeble shelf. She followed her feet. Step after apprehensive step. Until she unceremoniously bumped the crown her head into another row of shelves she didn't see above her.

Another scoff from the wild-haired catcher caused Piper's throbbing head to sting a little more.

Piper turned around to meet her for a second, but her eyes returned to see the girl again a moment later when recognition hit her.

"Hey, I know you." The girl didn't bother to turn and look. She continued rummaging through catcher's gear and past a worn down mitt until she fished out an infield glove. Piper smiled as the pressed on. "You threw a can at my boyfriend."

"Oh, so you're Ralph Lauren's arm candy," She pulled her hand into the glove and fiddled with the strap when she recalled the brief interaction. Piper wasn't sure whether or not to take the girl's misnaming as an offense. She smiled anyway.

"His name's Larry." The almond-eyed girl finished messing with her glove when a snarky grin spread across her tanned cheeks.

"Did I ask?" The smile still remained there as she turned to leave. She low-fived a tall raven haired girl and the two made their way out to the glowing field. The rest of the snickering lions followed the two out, a heavyset butch elbowing her on her way out.

Piper stood there alone in the dugout for a while. Taking everything into account. Trying to comprehend everything that just happened. The pit of her stomach was starting to deepen and she already felt like running to the bathroom. She felt alone. She hadn't felt this ostracised since-

 _Damn._

She hadn't been ostracized _ever._

She had always had the privilege of never worrying about exclusion. She was well to do, white, blonde, smart, you name it, she always had the upper hand. She never had to worry about making friends and considered herself an amiable person. She baked softball themed cupcakes for her 8u team in elementary school and made bows for her 12u in middle school. Both teams accepting her into their family without pause. When she made the transition from junior high to high school, she had no trouble finding where she fit in with the other smart, privileged, kids her age. They played tennis, made things on Pinterest, formed study groups, and did other miscellaneous things that made Piper fit the vanilla stereotype. Even her former softball teams were as cookie cutter as she was. She was never singled out.

She was just now realizing this as she stood there. Painfully taking into account her overtly outcast position.

Piper decided she wasn't going to cry it out in the bathroom.

Instead, she puffed out a dejected sigh and trotted out to meet them.

/

She fielded all the ground balls Red hit to her during fielding drills, but nearly overthrew every single one to whoever was at first base. Anxious to get the ball out of her hands, she threw it either a little too high, a little too low, or a little to the left or right of them. Never direct.

 _Fuck._

Even though the air was a soothing chill, Piper felt like stripping off her trendy fleece and tank top and just going shirtless from the unwelcoming eyes that burned into her skin. She felt like the sun was only beating down on her. Beads of sweat were surging down the back of her neck and all the way down the path of her spine and her hands were slipping too. She couldn't roll up her sleeves; that took two hands and she certainly wasn't going to ask one of the resident lions for help. So she continued to sweat until her entire body was damp and the roots of her bangs were soaked.

It didn't take her too long to realize that as of right then, she carried the notorious role of _that one girl who can't stop sweating._

Frustrated sighs and nasty chuckles cursed her from behind and every time she went to catch at first, each throw would sting against her hand. She'd walk to the back of the line shaking out her angered palm. And every time, something sharp-tongued would smack her across the face.

She even tried coming up with a comeback, but that only proved she wasn't as quick-witted as she made herself out to be.

"Did you break a nail?" the tough looking butch that elbowed her puffed out her lower lip and tilted her head.

"I clip my nails so I don't run into that problem, thank you," Piper responded, straightening herself up with whatever confidence she could muster up.

"Ah, you're not too different than the rest of us after all, huh, blondie?" The snarky, auburn haired girl from earlier fluttered her blunt-nailed pointer and index fingers and smiled wryly.

Piper's skin immediately heated up at that.

 _Shit._

She wiped the sheen of sweat from her warm forehead with her free hand and hoped the rest of her nerves would be captured along with it.

 _Calm down, Pipes. It's only warm-ups. You got this._

And with that she pulled off her humid glove and dashed to the dugout with the rest of them, a new fire burning in her chest.

/

Nicky splashed her face with cold water and spit out the drops that slipped between her chapped lips. Alex was milling about the bathroom, skidding her cleats against the filthy tile and stomping out wet clay that settled between the rounded spikes.

"Vause, I feel like you're worrying too much. She's not that great." Nicky dabbed her wet face dry with a paper towel. Alex tightened her ponytail and walked over to the available sink.

"No, something's up. She's not that bad. She's actually maybe more than decent. She's probably as good as Morello and she's really fucking good." She turned on the rusty faucet and tested the running water with her finger. Nicky's reflection furrow her brow through the dirty mirror. Alex cupped her hands under the cool water and continued.

"Not to brag but we're borderline deities. We've been on a championship streak for four years. Anyone that's not up to this that high caliber is considered garbage. But Reese Witherspoon's just as good as any other high school girl in the district and if she works hard enough, she'll be one of us. And we can't let that happen." She dunked her face in her handheld pool of water. Nicky rolled her eyes behind her.

"Come on, get real. It's taken us years to polish out guns and you really think she's gonna clean up that quick?" Alex picked her head up and made eye contact through the mirror.

"With the kind of focus that earns her a 4.5 GPA, it's more than likely." She filled her hands and washed her face again. Nicky shuffled to the sink and leaned against the outside of a stall.

"But uh, aside from this apparent issue," Nicky smiled that carnivorous smile and ran the tip of her tongue over her gleaming teeth. Alex turned to catch the expression and flicked a generous splash water on her. Nicky recoiled and laughed as Alex ripped a paper towel from the dispenser. "What do you think?"

"I don't like her. At all." She was wiping her dripping face and her words were muffled through the brown paper. Then she looked at Nicky who was cocking a brow and grinning as if she was waiting for something else.

Alex mused over a possible reconsideration and the corner of her lip pulled down in thought.

"She's hot though. I can take a dip in those eyes. _Damn_." She raised her eyebrows for emphasis when she said damn. "So fucking _blue_." Alex continued to casually dry her hands and face. And that knowing look was still plastered on Nicky's face. She'd seen through Alex's shitty facade and it annoyed the brunette to no end that she could just do that.

A keen smile crept across Alex's cheeks and she crumpled up the used towel.

"I'd totally do her."

"There it is!" Nicky clapped her hands together and the exclamation ricocheted off the walls.

Alex rolled her eyes, tossing the towel in the garbage can.

"You're a joke," She started out the door and chuckled, feeling the catcher at her tail.

/

"So how long have you guys played?" Piper was applying Chapstick and practically _bullshitting_ the whole first impression thing. Pretending she had the nerve to just strike up a conversation. Swallowing down the bitter tastes that ebbed in her mouth.

 _Smiling._

 _A lot._

But no one cared to answer her and left her question dangling in the air. They continued getting water and stretching out their arms and doing anything but paying attention to the defeated blonde. She gave up waiting for an answer when she saw a threesome of girls glace over at her and scowl. Piper took out her ponytail almost a little too violently and flipped her hair over to redo it. As she gathered up her waterfall of blonde, she thought she heard a petite looking brunette mumble a meek "five years."

"What?" She lifted her crystal eyes to find the pair of warm brown ones. But they forced a stone cold exterior after a moment.

"What, nothin'. I didn't say nothin'."

Piper decided not to push it.

The rest of the chatter died down when Red walked in.

"Chapman, warm up your shoulder," she said, her thick accent marking the command with more intimidation than it needed. Everyone's heads snapped to Piper, who was already sinking into her skin. Something like angered bewilderment painted their faces and she had no choice but to ignore the furious whispering that followed and comply.

"Nicky, gear. On." The catcher shuffled into the dugout and stopped dead in her tracks, perplexed.

"Wait wha-?"

"Behind the plate in 30 seconds." Her almond eyes widened and she scrambled to her bag without further objection. Everyone else was still huddled in broken up circles all discussing the burning question of why the hell Red would throw a newbie on the mound without mentioning a fucking thing before. Piper was still rolling her shoulder in backwards circles, the same confusion deepening her eyes. She bit the inside of her lip and pulled her arm across her chest.

Red popped her fiery head back into the dugout.

"Now."

And the two made their way out to the mound and plate, Nicky shoving Piper out of the way to go first.

Nicky squatted down behind the dusty plate and Piper dug her cleated toes into the mound. She closed her shaking fingers around the thick laces. Her heart was beating far out of her chest and she felt all eyes on her. Branding judgements on her skin.

She swallowed a forming lump and breathed.

Morello had her fingers hanging limply around the links of the fence and stood in front of Alex, who was shading her from the arm of sun that beat down on the little thing. Everyone was pressing against the clinking metal to take a gander at the blonde, who was winding up behind the mound. Cindy, Taystee, and Poussey were bickering over who got the better view of the momentous, 15-second, occasion. All swatting hands and various profanity-seasoned phrases. Boo and Pennsatucky were crushing their cheeks against the links to see over the rest of the lions and Crazy Eyes settled to balance on the edge of the bench

"Oh, I can't watch," Morello turned and buried her eyes in Alex's sleeve.

"You have to," The brunette chided as she gently removed her arm and rested it on the Italian's thin shoulder. She looked up and whimpered. Alex had to bite back a smile.

Piper lifted her now unwavering eyes to Nicky's raised glove. Red was armed with her speedometer, ready to see what sort of fire exploded out of her glove.

She lifter her glove to her chest to prepare for her wind up and shifted onto her back leg. And in a flash she was exploding off of her leg and whipping her arm around, the ball spiralling out of her hands like a bullet.

It clapped against Nicky's glove and echoed with the finishing slap of her thigh.

"Forty-eight." Red clicked her pen and wrote down the figure in her clipboard. Nicky pulled off her mask, ripping out a few strands of auburn hair with the velcro, an indiscernible feeling pinching in her chest.

That same feeling was pumping its way through Alex's veins too. But jealousy's overtones shadowed the unnamed emotion. And just as the rage was beginning to swell, fear began to flavor her blood. Her muscles began to tense in a cold clench of mixed emotions, frustrating her to the core.

She couldn't tell if this was good or bad. The print was too fine to read. This _Piper Elizabeth Chapman_ was _good._ Every theory she had about her was right. The blonde was no Alex Vause, that was for sure, but she sure as hell could terrify any other girl in the district with the kind of bullets she kept in her glove. Alex could take the route to relief. The route to resting her knot-laden shoulder for once and unhooking the agonizing weights of college that hung on her body. Or she could take the route she was already sprinting down. The route that made Alex want to rip this girl's throat out with her teeth, even though she was nothing but forty-eight-mile-an-hour pitches and embroidered duffle bags. The one that made Alex want to spend every last second on the mound shooting cannons in every pitch. Just to send this bitch running back to Bel Air with her tail between her legs. But it wasn't all anger that drove Alex to feel this way. It was fear. Piper was twenty-something miles an hour behind and Alex was _still_ scared. Fifty four seconds after she saw that fastball down the middle, she already felt like she was scampering up moving pavement to escape this girl. In Alex's mind, this girl was out to _get_ her. To _end_ her. But Alex buried the embarrasing emotion and continued to boil her blood.

Morello was the first to look up at Alex. She was visibly gnawing down on the inside of her cheek and squinting one eye. And Before anyone could interject, everyone's eyes dawdled over to Alex, who was averting all contact. But finally, she raised her emerald shaded knives from the dusty floor and rolled them back into her head.

"She's okay."

No one dared say another word after that.

/

"I swear to god I don't fucking look like Donna." Alex's voice was harsh, but her face betrayed her with beaming eyes and a laughing grin.

"What are you talkin' about? If your hair was red you'd be a fuckin clone!" Nicky cracked open a Sprite and scrunched her nose at the fizzy sip she took. Everyone was against Alex, shouting things she couldn't make out. But she was well aware what they were arguing and all she could do was throw her head back and let out a laugh of disagreement.

"Get rid of the glasses you could knock that bitch right out the spotlight," Taystee took a bite of what seemed to be an enchilada and gave a quick tilt of the head.

"I wouldn't really count myself as someone who'd go out of my way to steal an acting role. One on an overrated tv show nonetheless," Alex replied smugly, to which she received a brown eye roll shortly after.

"Mmhm. Vause and Hollywood's like oil and water. That shit don't go together," Cindy followed, spooning yogurt into her mouth. Everyone continued to pile on argument after argument as to why she looked like the character, but Alex continued to lightheartedly disagree.

"Yeah. You guys could be twins. I love That 70's Show." Everyone turned to see who's voice it was that cut through the uproar.

Piper was standing at the head of the table, awkwardly tightening the delicate grip she had on the handle of her monogrammed lunchbox. She smiled amiably, but the table fell dead silent as they watched her, already _perishing_ in the situation.

It was like a rerun of yesterday's nightmare, shearing Piper of hopes of dropping the awfulness of yesterday had on her body. Their eyes were glazed over with a sheen of apathy and that was seemingly worse that the kind of menacing eyes she faced the day before. The familiar catcher rolled her eyes and let out a scoff that Piper felt ripping in her chest and the group of three in the corner began to whisper. Piper shifted over to her other hip and gave a flattened smile.

"Can I um," She started for the empty seat nearest to her, next to the skinny hooded girl. She plopped her cluttered backpack from seemingly out of nowhere onto the chair, her eyes never breaking contact.

"Sorry, it's taken," she sneered. The twang in her voice made the phrase sting more than it should have. The catcher seated next to her snickered into the crease of her elbow and the butch across from her folded her lips in half. Piper felt her face burn a painful shade of red. Her cheeks were pricking with embarrassment and the oncoming sting of tears was beginning to bite at her ducts. She couldn't blink them back without being obvious, so she let her eyes gloss over but forbade her tears to fall. She un-needingly tucked a strand of blonde behind her ear and took in a sharp inhale.

"Oh, that's. Fine. Um, thanks anyway," she spun on her heels and smiled again as she started off. Past her familiar table with her group. Past everyone and she picked up her pace as she made a beeline to the bathroom

But a pair of firm arms grabbed ahold of her shoulders and she struggled for a while before they turned her around.

She was grunting and mumbling under her breath a little too loudly, she thought. She had never been to great at hiding her frustration when it became powerful enough.

"Piper, what's the matter," Larry dropped his tan sweatered arms and gave a sympathetic grimace. Piper's lip began to quiver and she finally let out a groan, surrendering to his chest.

"Those girl's excluding you out of their orgy?" Piper's forehead rubbed against the fabric as she nodded, no energy to laugh at the joke.

"Don't worry about them. Those pigs aren't worth your time."

His insult to them didn't soothe her much either.

"Am I a bad person? Like, am I too happy or too what." Larry smiled reassuringly, still not satisfying her burning belly.

"You're not _too_ anything. You're doing just fine. I think you're overthinking this. You tend to do that."

"I do, don't I." Larry nodded and kissed her forehead. She closed her eyes and took his tender band-aid of a gesture and he walked away.

She knew this skimpy ordeal was nothing to get worked up over. Petty girl drama was below her level of maturity. She had always been the peacekeeper when it came to this kind of behavior and never worried about things like this. But here she was, allowing all the awful knots of confusion twist in her muscles and letting her jaw lock itself in a clench And here she was, knowing that this was something she had to become acquainted with.

.

"Guys, that was mean." Morello's eyebrows curved in upon each other and she folded her arms across her slight chest. Nicky accompanied her eyeroll with a grunt of disapproval.

"No, it was appropriate. Come on, we went over this. How many times we gotta tell you this is exactly what we lookin' for? " Taystee massaged the bridge of her broad nose and let her plastic fork drop into her mess of an enchilada. Morello brought her silver crucifix between her teeth in attempts to gnaw the guilt away.

/

A note with curly handwriting Piper found in her locker led her to the east hallway before the bathrooms in the middle of 7th period. She excused herself to the nurse's office and she soundlessly snuck down the vacant hallway. She had calmed the tides of emotion she deemed irrelevant and continued about her day as if she wasn't completely embarrassed and denied in front of the entire softball team. She convinced herself this happened to people _all the time_ and being hated by her team was _perfectly normal._ Sure, it was a bit harsh and overwhelming, but because it was _perfectly normal_ and it happened _all the time_ , that meant it was acceptable.

Because in Piper's mind, that's how it was supposed to work. That is, if you didn't want to stir up anything.

And at this point, Piper wanted no stirring of anything to happen.

She shook herself of the thoughts and continued to wait.

She leaned her back against the beige wall, waiting for whoever wanted a meeting.

Until the back of her shirt was grabbed and she was being swallowed up behind the neighboring door.

She let out a tight screech from her throat and struggled against the force, but to no avail. The hand on her collar was too firm to fight. And before she could escape the door clicked shut and a yellowy light flicked on. Panting and panicked, Piper's eyes darted around above her head, searching for whoever ambushed her. But after searching, her eyes floated down.

And down.

And _down._

Until she was locking eyes with the petite little thing from yesterday. The pair of warm brown eyes who so meekly answered her question and then snubbed her completely.

 _Huh._

Piper furrowed her brow and looked around for any more possible, much taller, people hiding among the mops and stocked shelves of cleaning supplies.

"Hey. Sorry, that was a little uncalled for," she pulled her red lips into a nervous smile and apologetically itched the back of her neck, averting eye contact for a moment, but then bringing back her chocolate eyes back up to Piper.

Piper was still drowning in awe of how such a forceful hand belonged to such a small voice.

She leaned down a little closer to the girl's height, still trying to comprehend what happened in the last thirty four seconds.

"Are you about to try to have sex me or something?" Piper whispered, a confused and slightly concerned expression painted across her face. The girl jerked her head back, just as confused.

 _"What?"_

"Are you. Gonna try. To have sex with me." Piper split up the question a little more, still earning her a perplexed look.

"What? No.. No, w- _why_ would you…" The girl's face was scrunched up from how far she was creasing her eyebrows.

 _God, Piper._

"Just the atmosphere. I-I mean janitor's closet. Anonymous note in my locker. Softball team. Just kinda. _Situational factors._ " Piper stammered. The girl's expression hadn't changed in the slightest. The blonde sighed.

"Sorry, I just-"

"Don't worry I'm not going to try to fuck you." Her face relaxed into a reassuring smile.

"Okay good. I was about to get _really_ self-conscious." Piper realized how wrong that came out as soon as the brown eyes widened again.

"Wait _what?_ "

"Sorry. Nevermind. Just." Piper mentally slapped herself hard across the face and her cheeks were threatening to turn a shade of pink. She waved her fair hand for the girl to continue, who shook her brown head in response.

" _Anyway_." She inhaled, visibly trying to push aside the sexual confusion. "I just wanted to apologize. My friends are real jerks."

Piper deepened her brow again, taking a step backward.

"I shouldn't have ignored you. That was a dick move. And I want to maybe. Possibly. Be friends." She held out her small, strong hand and looked up for a response. " _Piper_."

The use of her name at the end made Piper want to smile. But she bit it back and swallowed it, sure to not break her mask. Piper couldn't trust her. She was associated with the people she was certain hated her most in the world and here she was asking for a truce. But she thought back to their brief exchange in the dugout. How she was the only one who addressed her feeble attempt at conversation with an actual response. One that was a simple, numerical answer to satisfy the simple, numerical question. And then she remembered how quickly she fortified her once warm eyes into ones that matched her fellow lions. But now they were smiling with the glimmer of potential friendship. Piper couldn't afford to deny something so valuable. Especially not now.

Piper took the hand in her's and they shook on it.

"Okay. Thank you…" Piper waited for a name.

"Morello. Well, my real name is Lorna but everyone calls me by my last name. You pick what you prefer."

Piper's smile was tempting her lips again and this time, she allowed it to spread fully across her cheeks.

"So, I'll show you everyone at practice and also, before we get there can you braid my hair? You look like the type to be real good at that stuff," She continued to chirp on as they walked down the hall.

 _Friend._ That had a nice ring in Piper's ears.

/

"That's Poussey, Cindy, and Taystee. They play outfield. Right, left, and center." Morello snapped down on her gum as she foam rolled the backs of her thighs next to Piper, who was cross legged behind the edge of the bench, sure to not blow the cover of their scandal-worthy friendship. Morello traced the intricate pattern of her braid again and smiled at the perfection. She continued.

"You rarely see one without the other. They're like a box of real packed in box of chocolates." She scrunched her nose when she realized the unproficiency of her analogy. "Except there are only three pieces… And one of them is real bitter…" She shook her head. "Whatever."

Piper nodded for her to proceed.

"That's Crazy Eyes. She's First." She motioned to the girl in the far corner with her nose. "And she's uh. Well. _Crazy_." She laughed nervously.

"What's her real name?" Piper pulled her elbow over her head to stretch. She watched as Morello squinted her eyes and looked up for enlightenment.

"That's a good question. That I _don't_ have the answer to." She looked down at the floor. "Huh."

They both shook off her lack of knowledge and continued.

"And that's Big Boo." She nodded to the butch who was stretching her arms over her head. "She's Third. And that's Pennsatucky. Short stop." The girl was fiddling with the laces on her cleats. "Pennsatucky sometimes gets a little wonky out on the field and Boo kinda shushes her down. But both of them are real tough. Don't mess with them too much." Piper nodded.

She almost felt an odd sense of _relief_ as she was putting names with the faces that _hated_ her.

"That's Nicky. As you might have figured out, she's catcher. It'll take her a few weeks to come around just like everyone else, but don't worry. She will. She's real good." Morello tilted her head to the side ever so slightly and her eyes seemed to soften.

"And funny. She can make me laugh at the fuckin' ground. And carin' too," Morello's voice seemed to have lowered a half step and her lips were forcing down a nearly bashful smile. Nicky was struggling to get her cleat on and was hopping about like a fish on the hot deck of a boat. But with a huff and a grunt, her foot slid in and made a thud against the floor. And then she turned to meet Morello, winking an eye and continuing on with her task. The little brunette looked away, a light pink shading her cheekbones. It was like a canned cartoon. But the genuinity of it all made Piper want to blush too.

"Are you two.." Morello immediately pulled herself from whatever cloud she was floating on and snapped back to reality.

"Oh, No." She could've stopped there. "No, no. We're just," she turned back to sneak a glance at Nicky, who was struggling again to get the other cleat on. She smiled softly. " _Friends_ I guess."

Piper's stomach fluttered wistfully.

Piper scanned the dugout again and practiced matching the names with the faces.

 _Taystee, Cindy, Poussey. Crazy Eyes. Big Boo and Pennsatucky. Nicky. And-_

She stopped short of a raven-haired girl in the corner who was warming up her shoulder. The pair of sharp eyes she had glanced at Piper for a moment and that was enough to make the blonde's stomach hiccup into her chest.

"W-who's she? I don't remember seeing her." Morello turned around at the meandering lions. She skimmed the place and just as her eyes fixed upon the girl, she brought them back to the blonde.

"Who?" Morello blinked, forcing a relaxed expression.

"Her." Piper nodded to her again.

"I don't see anyone."

Morello didn't even turn to look.

" _Her._ Dark hair. Glasses." Finally she peeked over her thin shoulder and her face returned with a nervous expression.

"Oh, _her?_ That's just…" She started making vague hand motions to try and convey words she wasn't saying. Piper studied her hand gestures and gave it her best effort to decipher Morello's stuttering and babbling.

"Come on, just tell me." The brunette rolled her eyes and dropped her hands in her lap.

"Alright. _Fine._ " She swallowed. "Alex." She sighed. "Vause."

Piper nearly choked on her air.

"That's her?"

"Uh huh."

"Damn. I pictured her to be a lot. _Butcher_." Piper's eyes never left Alex, who was placing her glasses in a velvety case and tossing them into a black bag. But her now unspectacled eyes slid over to meet Piper's again. And this time, they were accompanied with a smug smirk that made Piper's gaze dart back to Morello.

"From the sounds of it yeah. But that's her. As you may have heard she's our pitcher. And the backbone of this entire team. She holds us together. Like sexy super glue."

As much as the analogy was senseless, Piper couldn't disagree with the sexy part.

She remembered her sexuality and shook herself of the thought.

And she was completely caught off guard when the little brunette's voice became thick with severity.

"But listen she's someone you don't wanna touch. At all. Like a rose. Beautiful but deadly. If you wanna keep your head on this team, stay outta her hair. Cuz even though she seems together, she will eat you alive like the crazy animal she is. So when I say lay low, I mean _lay low_. You got it Chapman?"

She stole another glance at the crazy lioness, who seemed as cool and unfazed as ever. But she had to pry her eyes away to respond.

"Clear as a bell."

/

Batting practice was a bust- as Piper's balls went nowhere but up, which received overt eye rolls from Boo and Pennsatucky when she walked back into the dugout.

She played that off.

She dropped a ball out that came out of left field. Cindy had thrown a bullet at her and the blonde couldn't do anything but shield herself.

 _"This ain't the Bad News Bears, boo."_ The comment echoed in the wind and made a face she couldn't see.

Piper played that off too.

Even though she had picked up on this "playing off" action within the past day, she was doing it so often it was becoming a habit.

But something she couldn't play off was Alex.

At all.

Tall. Even from a distance, Piper could feel the girl's towering presence. Confident. Whenever she brought her mesmerizing gaze to Piper, her eyes would shy away and take sudden interest in the ground. But when she felt the sultry eyes focusing on something else, Piper's would forget about the grass and flock back to her. They took in her everything. Her walk and how her body would make S's and figure eights and how her dark ponytail would sway along with it. How she'd smile at a quip or a lark and the laugh that would rumble in Piper's core. How she'd step up to the mound and so easily shell swift bullets out of her glove one right after the other. And how she'd look at Piper like she was about to eat her alive like the crazy animal she was made out to be. There were green flames in her eyes and Piper felt them burning holes in her skin and she'd finally combust when one of them winked.

Piper couldn't play that off.

Not in the slightest.

But eventually that practice came to a close and Piper was more than ready to shower off the ravenous glances from her tender skin. Even though they had been there only a day, she was used to the callouses left by the whispers and side eyes from the lions around her. She pulled her sweaty hand out her her glove and dropped it in her bag. With a tight zip, she slung the strap over her shoulder and started out. She walked out a few yards onto the sidewalk. And when she felt around her bag, it didn't take her long to realize something was missing.

"Shit," She muttered into the wind when she remembered her phone was still perched in her creaky corner shelf in the back of the dugout. She scurried back in, her bundled bag bouncing along with her prances and slowing her down. She butted past lions and judgemental faces and she felt around until her fingers closed around the cool metal. In her flurry or haste and other rampant reflexes, she whipped around too quickly. Her bag slammed against the side of a lush figure and she found her face in an ample chest. And her phone went flying out of her hands. Piper's heart flew up in her throat as she watched the thing descend like a cinderblock in water. But it never touched the ground. A hand swooped down and saved it from the perilous fall and began rotating it in its palm. The blonde's wide eyes followed the hand up to the wrist. And then up the arm, and up to the shoulder, and up to its face.

 _Fuck._

Piper had to _struggle_ in order to keep her jaw from unhinging too far.

Alex had a smug smirk shaping her lips. Those goddamn eyes were peering through Piper's blown pupils and the blonde felt them completely undress her. Her face was unmoving, as if she hadn't done anything special. It was casual. But Piper was sinking into her cleats and burrowing into the collar of her fleece as she watched the phone continue to turn in her soft, nimble hands.

"Oh. Fuck- God. I-I'm. So sorry. Thanks for- you know- saving my ass. I mean phone. Saving my phone-"

Alex cut her off by placing a finger under her chin, as if to close her running mouth. It worked, Piper stopped her pathetic stuttering and tried her best to cut the dilation of her pupils. Piper's heart was beating like wild out of her chest, blood running cold through her veins and body blushing all at once. She was paralyzed. _Terrified_. Just by a touch beneath her chin.

"Here's a piece of advice blondie, quit before it gets ugly." She trailed a burning stroke from where her finger rested and removed it from its place. She handed a baffled Piper the phone and turned, not looking back for a moment.

Piper looked at the phone in her hands, warm from the lionesses clutch, and gulped down the forming lump in her throat.

Piper couldn't play that off.

Not even in the slightest.

/

It was like a phenomenon. It happens to everyone. The strange occurrence of never knowing someone and then out from the ashes of oblivion, they're everywhere.

Alex was _everywhere._

Piper saw her spinning a pencil in the same nimble fingers that had saved her phone earlier a couple weeks ago in the back of her fourth period class. When she turned around to see her, she locked eyes with her and winked coolly.

She saw her again as she was walking down the hallway before last period with her fingers locked in Larry's. Her sharp eyes ghosted the blonde up and down and the predatory smile that followed left a chilling knot in Piper's stomach that didn't dissolve until the bell, even with Larry close at her side. And as she was studying later that night, she thought about the shadows in her lashes and her stomach cramped up once more.

Every time Piper saw her come and go, she knew her body was fucked.

But Piper had to get herself mad in order to shake herself.

She wasn't inherently shy or anything. She was normally outgoing and far from awkward in social situaions and in one-on-one scenarios. But with Alex it was a different story. Alex looked at her like prey. Like she was a mouse and she was walking right into her black painted claws. Whenever Piper was at the mound to practice her one or two times, she'd feel her ravenous glare searing into her delicate skin and then she'd hear a faint laugh not intended for her ears. Whenever she'd walk back to her monogrammed water bottle to get a splash, she'd sense the green eyes digging into her back. And whenever Piper would turn around the meet them, they'd be gone, fully focused on whatever was occupying them. As if they were never there. And no matter if they were roving over the blonde's body or not, Piper always felt exposed. Completely violated by her maiming gaze and bewitching smile.

So Piper turned amped up her heat toward something else. To equalize herself. To taste a little power.

Piper found her in the bathroom washing her hands. Her gaze was downcast, washing the suds from in between her fingers and under her nails. The blonde gulped down a bitter taste and stepped into the reflection in the mirror.

Flutters were brewing in her stomach as she paced over to her.

The blonde swallowed down the nerves and frosted herself over.

"Alex."

Alex finally looked up and raised a thin brow. Piper furrowed her's.

"I know you think I'm some privileged brat who doesn't know right from left. But I'm just as good as everyone else on this team and it's time you accept that. I'm not scared of you and you don't intimidate me."

Piper straightened herself up, even though she knew from the start that she was fucked.

And she was.

Alex raised her glasses to the crown of her dark head and laughed. Low and jagged. Like a dark stream of shredded silk.

Piper's heart went so heavy, it dropped.

She began walking towards her, step after drawing step. Until Piper's back was pressing mercilessly against the freezing tile. She towered over her. Even though they met at the eye, her posture held a good six inches or more above her. Piper's bones were rattling under her skin and her muscles were too numb to move. And she was so close. Until she was just inches from the blonde's nose. Until she can feel her tantalizing laugh rumbling against her neck.

"I appreciate the tenacity. I like that in a woman," She purred as took a lock of the blonde's hair and twisted it in her fingers. Piper's heart was threatening to burst from her chest and then to stop entirely when Alex leaned in to her ear. "And I've always had a thing for blondes." Piper looked at the strand of blond still braided between her fingers and watched it slip from their hold. She roved over Piper once more, looking satisfied and hungry all at once, and strode off.

Piper let her back slide down against the cold tile and pulled her knees close into her chest.

 _Sixth period could wait._

And it did.

/

Alex knocked tentatively on the thick door and opened it, meeting eyes with the Russian behind the desk.

"You wanted to see me?" Red looked up from her computer and motioned to an empty chair.

Alex stepped in and looked around at the trophy-lined shelves and the glittery mantles on the walls. Flags and banners blanketed the walls, making everyone who entered forget the color beneath the fabric.

"What's going on?" Alex shifted uneasily in the leather cushion when Red's iron gaze flickered over to her face. The coach removed her thin glasses and tossed them aside. The smack it made against the desk caused Alex to jump a bit in her seat.

"You've got yourself in a bit of a rut, kid." Alex knew she fucked up when Red rolled the r in rut.

"What are you talking about." Alex adjusted herself again and scanned down the list of everything she did wrong within the past week. Red sighed and refocused her attention to her desktop. After a few clicks she sharply turned the screen to the girl across the way.

"You're failing two classes and Healy's busting down my door to get you on probation. I've been covering your ass for too long." Alex looked at the red lettering that glared at her from the Calc and AP U.S history sections of her digital gradebook.

"But all my other grades are fantastic." Alex relieved her eyes by focusing on the black coloring on the 90 something's in all the other columns. Red turned her screen back to where it was before and leaned back in her chair.

"Doesn't matter."

"But what are you gonna do without a pitcher."

"That's why I brought in Barbie." Alex furrowed her brow and felt frustration bubbling in her blood.

"But she can't play for shit!"

"She's good and you know it." Red's words were in bold lettering and cut off Alex's line of defenses. Alex folded her arms tightly across her chest and averted her gaze like a petulant child.

"She's a bit rough around the edges but if she cleans up she's make one hell of a lion. And that's why I have you."

Alex flared up again and didn't hold back this time.

 _"What?"_

"You start working with her every other day after practice. Until you get your grades up, she's your stand in." Red clicked her pen and started scratching something on a pad of paper.

"No, you can't do that." Alex was smiling but it was all wrath and ire underneath.

"As long as you've got a 63 and a 66, college looks _iffy._ " Red didn't bother to look up. Alex's storm was beginning to settle and she a sinking feeling began to darken her body.

"Red, please." Alex wasn't angry now. She was pleading. Her eyes were free of fury and there was nothing but water now. Her lips were quivering, barely visibly. But Red's face was stony and she shook her fiery head.

"Now's not the time to pity yourself. Don't be asking me please for something you can help. College doesn't do lazy." Red tossed the pen and pad onto a surface behind the mahogany desk.

"But more importantly, _I_ don't do lazy."

/

Alex watched as plumes of smoke waltzed around her head. So carelessly. And then went along to join the breeze as cars blew past.

She sighed as she took another deep drag and released it with a sigh, sinking further into the metal bus stop sign she leaned her body on.

"Alex?" a familiar voice rang from behind. Tentative steps came closer until the voice was right in front of her.

Piper's lips were flattened and didn't show through the pathetic smile. Her leather buckled backpack was loosely hanging at her shoulder and Alex noticed how she held her keys between her fingers.

Alex didn't bother to move her cigarette arm behind the bench or meet her expectant eyes, in hopes she'd leave her alone.

"I just wanted to apologize. For the way I was acting. Earlier."

Deep drag.

Piper tucked blonde hair behind her pearl studded ear before continuing.

"Red told me that you're gonna be coaching me after practice. Because you're on probation."

Slow exhale.

"That sucks."

Deeper drag, deeper exhale.

"You know I could-"

"Is this some kind of truce making technique you learned at Delta Nu? Because it's working. Really." Alex dropped the smoke onto the concrete and killed it with her shoe, stepping forward towards the blonde. Piper looked down at the murdered cigarette for a little too long. Then she brought up those sapphire eye, the ones Alex wanted to strip and swim in, and almost immediately, they hardened

"Do you have a problem with me or something?"." She adjusted her backpack strap and clutched her keys between her fingers a little tighter than before. "Because I have done nothing to you at all. You know maybe you can try being a little nicer. Or god forbid, a little more appreciative when people try and help you. But maybe you're too good for that or something, so I guess I can just leave." Piper had no clue where that came from, but she sure as hell wasn't going to revoke it so she turned on her heels and thundered off. Her heated steps made Alex feel a pang of regret clash against her side and she hated herself for feeling regret. This was the girl she wasn't supposed to give a fuck about. This was the girl she was supposed to hate.

She groaned and called after her.

"Wait." The blonde stopped in her tracks and peeked over her bag. "What were you going to say." She pivoted back around and started again towards the bus stop. Piper looked at her in silence for a while.. "Come on, spit it out."

"I was going to offer to tutor you. To pay you back for coaching me." Alex raised a thin brow and rotated her red Bic lighter in the warm palms of her hands.

"I know you don't like me for whatever reason, but we could help eachother out" Piper spoke a more assured now. Even more than before. Because they were civil now. Alex looked at her for a hard second before slipping the lighter into her jacket pocket. She sighed, shaking her head blinking rapidly.

"Yeah. Whatever. Thanks, blondie." The bus game to a grinding halt next to them and she looked back into Piper's eyes, to show at least a twinge of gratitude. She started towards the doors that swung open.

"I-It's Piper. I'm Piper" she stuttered. She could hear her faint laughter, even if Alex was turned around.

"Okay, Lilly Pullitzer."

/

Be sure to comment, like, follow, whatever. I love you all ~S


	4. Holiday special part one

_I posted the entire thing initially, but it was like more than 12,000 words so I divided it into two parts and I'll post the second part Christmas day. I promised a holiday special. This is from me to you. Happy holidays and happy new year,_

 _~S_

(a few **important things** : there are **no flashbacks so don't get confused with the italics, Anything in italics and with tildas next to it are lyrics** {you'll get there}, and for the italics sections, **underlined things are equivalent to normal italics on normal text** {You probably would've gotten that on your own} Okay thank you I love you)

* * *

Chapter 4, part one

(3:56)

"This one's perfect. It's nice and robust." Nicky's voice rang with resounding approval and her boot gently kicked the sturdy trunk of a verdant tree.

" _Robust_." Alex smirked at the word choice as she took a gander at their potential pick.

"What? I know my English." Nicky adjusted her black knock off Ray Bans and continued inspection. Alex gave her a perplexed look and furrowed her thin brow.

"Why the fuck are you wearing sunglasses? It's overcast," She asked. And she was right. The sky was a deep charcoal shade of gray, even though it was well into the afternoon. The sun hadn't touched the sky for the past week and if someone wore sunglasses, they were probably either a fugitive or a douche. And Nicky, as far as Alex was concerned, was not a fugitive and was only a douche on occasion. The catcher groaned under her breath and lowered her shades, revealing a bruise that shadowed her right eye and receded at her cheekbone.

"I snuck out last night to head over to Morello's. I was rushin' out so quick I bumped into the window. Got a wicked shiner."

"Yikes." Alex grazed her index finger against the black and blue and Nicky winced when it came to a small wound close to her nose. Alex's uneven expression loosened into a sly one. "You do her good though?"

Nicky glided the shades back up to the bridge of her nose and smugly raised an eyebrow.

"When do I not, my friend." They shared a moment of mutual pride and continued on with their business.

The tree really was perfect. It wasn't too big that the top would strain to stand tall against the Vauses' unfortunately low ceiling or too small that it would cower in the corner of the _hardly-a-studio_ studio apartment. It's branches were thick and rich with noble shades of jade. It didn't seem to be fazed by the wind and rain the nursery had experienced earlier in the week. It sat proud at around five feet tall. And the thought of possibly having a tree come Christmas was shamefully _so_ exciting to them.

But then they checked the price.

"It's $167," Alex said a little too dully. Underneath her flattened voice, she was disappointed, even though she'd never admit it. Nicky darted her eyes to her right for motivation. Then she brought them back up to Alex.

"Okay, we can pull this off. Don't worry."

"Nicky, we have fifty dollars. No fucking way we're gonna get this tree." Alex dug her fists in her pockets and sighed up into the air.

"No, we are _gonna_ get this tree. And you're gonna have Christmas." Nicky was almost _asserting_ this.

"This isn't anything too serious anyway and you're not the Make a Wish Foundation. It's really fine." Alex deepened her hands in the men's sized pockets of her jacket and Nicky flattened her lips.

"I don't give a shit if this comes out gay, but I'm you're fuckin' best friend. And I'm making it a point as of right now, that you're gonna have a tree like everyone else in the neighborhood and we're gonna have the best, most festive Christmas in Nichols-Vause history. Don't argue with me on this one." Nicky jabbed the center of Alex's stomach and she recoiled, forcing down a smile. She shrugged her shoulders, knowing she was unable to argue.

"Fine. Whatever." She shook her head and huffed warm air out her nose. "Let's do Christmas." Nicky gave an introverted cheer and she rubbed her palms together. Alex freed her smile, rolling her eyes to water down her closet enthusiasm.

"Alright, let's get us a tree." She skimmed the rows of evergreens until she landed upon a stocky looking man in a red vest. "Excuse me," Nicky's echoey voice called his attention. He stopped his milling around and turned to them. He took his sweet time to shuffle over to the two girls, a deadpan expression pressed across the un-enthused lines of his face. The catcher feigned a sugary smile. " _Hi_ ," she snuck a glance at the man's plastic name tag. " _Kurt._ How much is this tree?" She tilted her auburn head and motioned to it. Kurt blinked daftly.

"Check the yellow price tag. You can't miss it." He spoke slowly. And Nicky's artificial smile struggled to hold its posture it as she realized her act was ripping at the seams.

"Yeah, see, um. My friend here and I can't really, uh. _Afford_ this here tree. So can you maybe, you know, _give us a hand_?" She leaned over and nudged the man with her elbow a little too sardonically for Kurt's taste. He rolled his eyes and emptied a sigh.

"In accordance to our policy, we cannot alter any fixed prices on any of our trees." His unflavored voice sickened the air and their chances. Alex folded her jacketed arms across her chest and decided to focus on the hole she was burrowing with her foot.

Nicky finally took a step towards Kurt. She cleared her throat and relaxed her canned smile.

"Kurt, come on. It's Christmas. And we are two, struggling, well behaved students who just want to celebrate the holidays in a reasonably priced fashion. So in the spirit of this beautiful season, find a place in your heart to give us this tree." He didn't seemed to be very swayed by the argument to begin with, and the addition of the classic holiday appeal didn't seem to help much either. So Kurt rolled his apathy filled eyes and repeated, even more lifelessly than before:

" _In accordance to our policy, we cannot alter any fixed prices on any of our trees."_

And then Nicky snapped.

"Oh, _**come on**_ _, Kurt!_ It's fuckin' _Christmas!"_ Alex placed a hand on her untamed shoulder and strained a sense of the causal control over the situation.

" _Okay,_ I think we are _done_ ," she a stamped a clenched smile across her cheeks at the unfazed worker. "Thank you, _Kurt_. For your time-" but Nicky was no where near finished.

"You know, I bet you think this is funny, _Kurt._ You sadistic, inconsiderate, _asshole._ So _fuck_ you, _and_ your policy _,_ _ **Kurt!**_ " Nicky was still firing bullets at him as Alex was dragging her away from the scene, Kurt visibly sighing and continuing on about his afternoon.

It wasn't until they made it out to the streets that she finally cooled off.

"Sorry, that usually works."

"It's fine."

They sat on the curb outside a pharmacy as they shared a smoke. They exchanged few silent drags and then Nicky's honey eyes widened.

"Vause, what time is it." Her voice was seasoned with haste, but Alex was free of any rush when she evenly checked her clock."

"4:23."

"Okay. I got a crazy idea."

"Fuck," Alex took the cigarette from her and inhaled.

"Okay, so we need to make a quick stop at my place and I'll tell you along the way or else we won't have enough time. So let's go." She plucked the cigarette from Alex's cold lips, took a final, appreciative drag, and then extinguished it beneath her boot. She hoisted herself up from her low seat, helped her friend up on her feet, and they were off.

/

 _(4:12)_

 _Piper squinted her crystal eyes as she scanned her closet for the millionth time. She swished air through her puffed cheeks as she studied her dresses. But at last she let out a dejected groan and spun on her heels to face a brunette, seated cross legged on her plush duvet._

" _Polly, help me I don't know what to do." The girl arose from her spot and plodded next to the blonde in front of her closet. "I don't own anything festive. At all."_

" _You don't even have to be festive. It's just dinner and the adults have wine and cheese and we sneak out with some liquor in the loft and then we hang out." Polly grinned. "Unless you're gonna bitch out like last year." Piper shoved her friends shoulder, who didn't seem fazed and laughed._

" _Yeah, well good thing I bitched out last year or you would've really done something dumb and gotten puke all over Cody Warren's shoulder."_

" _It would've made room for a nice moment where he helped me into bed or gave me water or something." Piper rolled her deep eyes back at the girl, who was occupied with pulling out various black and red clothing combinations from her closet, laying them out on Piper's bed. She seemed to be pulling out outfit after outfit, dress after skirt after article of clothing. While Piper was struggling to find one piece of fabric that seemed to fit the occasion. She groaned helplessly again._

" _I think you got the better side of my closet. I'm finding nothing." Polly scoffed and stepped over to Piper's side of the closet, sorting through blouses and summery clothing that didn't fit the weather._

" _Oh, hello. What's this?" Polly stepped again in front of Piper to gain leverage over a dress shoved behind rows of hangers. She wrestled with it for a while until she finally gained enough momentum to pull in from the shadows, knocking a few skirts down along the way. Polly held it in front of the two, a red velveteen dress with long sleeves and a flaring bottom. Piper tilted her head in thought, taking the luxurious fabric between her fingers._

" _I haven't seen this think since freshman year." She smiled nostalgically, transporting herself back to the Christmas dance where she danced with Kyle Kendler because she was too scared to ask Larry. "You think it's too young?" Polly made a face._

" _No, not at all. All you have to do is dress it up with some of these," she pulled out a pair of black stockings from a nearby drawers "and some pearls and red lips instead of braces and flats." Piper turned to her, slightly offended, but as Polly put her hands up in defense, the blonde remembered how dark a phase that_ _actually_ _was and huffed._

 _The house had been silent the whole time, even though Piper's mother had been talking about and stressing over this dinner since the beginning of last week. Cal was cooped up in his room playing whatever violent video game was in bloom, and they didn't seem to care. They turned on Christmas music on Polly's phone and while she was setting up a getting ready schedule for the two of them, Piper showered and she stood in her terry cloth bathrobe for a while after that. For the first few minutes of silence, Piper decided not to worry and deemed it perfectly normal and blamed it on the poor acoustics in her house. But an hour after, Piper began to worry._

" _Hey, Pol, is anyone home?" Piper said as she strolled over to her vanity and picked up a brush. Polly walked over to the frosted window and wiped her sleeve across the glass. She peeked around the corner and looked back at Piper over her thin shoulder._

" _There are no cars in your driveway." Piper went to join the brunette at the window and pressed her cheek against the cold._

" _The garage was empty last time I checked." Piper deepened her brow, trying to remember if her mother had said anything about leaving. But she started for the door anyway, Polly close at her tail. She went down the winding wooden staircase and her bare feet made gentle beats against the matching wood floor, making her way into the open, decorated kitchen. The lights were off, telling the girls someone had either left or come back without turning the lights on. Which was unlikely, so they went with the latter. Piper flicked the lights on and Polly abandoned her at the light switch. The blonde scanned the area, ignoring her friend who was rummaging through the fridge for something to eat, and decided the house was empty. Then her eyes fell upon a sheet of paper sitting face up on the granite counter a few feet away. She shuffled over to it and read._

 _Ladies,_

 _I apologize for leaving you alone but I do have a few things for you to do while I get my hair done and run a few errands. Please help by completing the following_

 _pick up the deserts from the caterer_

 _buy any extra gifts you need_

 _clean the house before the guests come at 8_

 _Thank you, ~Carol/Mom_

 _Piper's heart began to pick up to a running pace and she whipped her body around to Polly, who was spooning a dollop of greek yogurt into her mouth._

" _Polly! We have so many things to do! Look at this!" Piper shook the note in her hands and Polly walked over, the tub of organic yogurt still in hand. She dropped her spoon in the yogurt and moved it to the crook of her elbow to take the note in her hand. She skimmed it top to bottom and then gave it back to Piper._

" _It's fine, we can get this done. Easy." Piper's face still hadn't relaxed when she received it. And she was beginning to panic over how collected Polly was._

" _Polly it's going to take at least three hours. And I just showered and you still need to. And we are never gonna get this done." Piper's voice was beginning to rise in pitch, something she did when she was becoming overwhelmed. She raised her shoulder slightly and wiped a hand beneath her arm. "Shit, Polly I'm sweating. You know I stress sweat. And studies show that stress sweat is the one with the strongest smell." Polly rolled her eyes._

" _Where'd you learn that, Cosmo?" Piper lowered her gaze in a self conscious reflex. "Listen, it's fine. We can take my car. I filled the tank yesterday so we don't have to worry about stopping for gas. Get dressed and put on some deodorant and I'll wait in the car." Piper loosened her poster through a deep-seated exhale. "Hey, don't worry. Remember I'm gonna be helping you too." Piper looked back up at her friend, who bopped her reassuringly on the nose and sent her off._

 _Piper was sure to make her way up the staircase quickly, but not too quickly. She'd be needing that energy for later._

/

(4:49)

"Why can't you just go through the door? It's your _house_." Alex's shoulder was flattening itself against the dense side of Nicky's lavish place. A draped Christmas light was imprinting itself against Alex's side and she inhaled sharply every time Nicky moved to the left.

"I don't wanna go through the trouble of talkin' to my bitch of a Ma," Nicky's foot was stepped in Alex's interlocked fingers and her hands were reaching for a high window. Her other foot was scrambling against the wall, searching for some kind of secondary form of assistance. Her short arms were nearly detaching themselves from the socket as her fingers were just brushing the windowsill. "Now come on, boost me a little higher I almost have it." Alex grunted as she struggled to push her leg up. Her muscles, even as toned as they were, were shaking and with the Christmas light stabbing into her ribcage, she couldn't bear her any longer.

"Agh, you're too heavy. I can't hold you," Alex dropped the girl and she landed upon the grass with a thud. She staggered to catch her balance for a moment, but then she adjusted her glasses that had fallen askew. "How did you sneak in and out from Morello's?"

"I went in and out through the back and left it unlocked. Then when I came back I locked it again." Alex began patting herself down for the shape of a pin. She felt around her empty pockets too but shook her head when she couldn't find it.

"I don't have a pin. We're locked out." Nicky clicked her tongue hopelessly behind her front teeth and her eyes fell. Alex didn't break her gaze though. She still studied the still brainstorming girl and squinted at her.

Nicky looked up at her when she was gaining awareness of her stare.

"Alex, _no."_

"Nicky, come on. It'll be two minutes."

"But I don't wanna deal with her. You know all too well we don't get along." Nicky blew a strand of frizzed hair from her face and shoved her hands in her pockets. Alex didn't bother to argue, but tried a different approach. She loosened her squint, and raised her thin brows. She tilted her jet black head to the side, just slightly. And she smiled. Nicky relaxed her face further into a frown.

"Don't give me that face, Vause. I'm not doing it."

Alex batted her thick lashes smiled even sweeter. So sweet that her glasses raised an inch on her blossomed cheeks.

Nicky released a lamented groan up to the clouds.

" _Fine."_

"Thank you," Alex sighed and relaxed her doll-like expression. Nicky adjusted her jacket and turned to go. Alex gave final sentiments of encouragement, to which the girl cordially responded with a flip of the bird.

Nicky adjusted her jacket and pushed the lock of the glass door.

She paced through the opulent living room, fully furnished with candles, wreaths, and at the corner of the living room, a grand Christmas tree.

" _Two minutes,"_ Nicky reminded herself. She crept over to the tree and began ghosting her finger over the graceful ornaments. And just as she closed her fingertips over the orb, she froze when she heard a sharp gasp cut through the silence.

"Nicky," the girl whipped around to see the gasp, her almond eyes wide with angst. "Why do you dress like that? You look like a hoodlum." Mrs. Nichols, clothed in classic socialite attire, looked appalled at Nicky's favorite blue flannel and large black puffy vest. The girl gave her outfit a quick examination from above.

And when she did, she hatched an idea.

She clasped her hands behind her back and smiled.

" _Hey, Ma."_ She raised her gravelly voice a key and tilted her head. Mrs. Nichols furrowed a finely shaped brow in bewilderment.

"Hi," she said plainly. Nicky smiled harder.

"You know I feel like we haven't spoken in _so long,"_ Nicky rocked backward and gripped an ornament behind her. "You look _great_." She laid the complement on thick with flattery and waited for her frozen mother to answer.

"Thank you." She groomed her neat bob and adjusted her navy blazer. Nicky guided the orb off from its branch and held it for a moment, to adjust her nimble grip.

"So tell me, _Marka."_ Her mother cocked a brow at the use of her first name. "What's been going on in your world?" She raised her inquisitive brows and waited again for a response.

"Well," she began. "We're having a gala at the country club to sponsor the Barnhams."

"Tell me, who are the Barnhams? I must've just forgotten. So many names, you know?" she schmoozed. She feigned a short laugh, her mother responding with the like. And in an invisible motion, she slipped the globe under the back of her tight undershirt.

"They're the family that runs that golf tournament every year. The televised one," the mother explained.

"Oh, that's them?" Nicky shifted her weight and clasped her smooth fingers around another.

"Yes, that's. _Them_." her mother relaxed her posture for a moment and then pulled herself up once more. Nicky revived her soapy smile and peeled the icicle shape it from its bough.

"What have- _ahem,"_ she cleared her throat, as if stopping to her daughter's level was a strain on her voice. " _You_ been up to?" Nicky bit her lip and then relaxed into a stream of posh laughter.

" _Ohhhh,"_ she lowered the second ornament into her back pocket during her dragging ' _oh_.' "Well, no _galas_ in my near future _."_ She laughed again and her mother give a discomforted smile.

And as if an outside blessing knew her plan the whole time, the phone in the kitchen rang.

"Well you better get that. It's probably important," Nicky motioned to the ringing with her nose and bid her a _too lovely_ goodbye. Her mother's chic heels clopped into the kitchen and when she was out of sight, Nicky thanked the miracle and turned again to the tree. She made haste to arrange the remaining decorations to cover her tracks. But in one swift motion She grabbed a third glittering ornament and positioned a line of gold tinsel above its place. And in nine long, silent strides, she was out the door and in front of an expectant Alex.

They blinked in silence, the brunette's heart slowing in angst.

Nicky smiled smugly.

"God bless the puff jacket." She dangled all three sparkling ornaments in front of Alex's widened green eyes. The tall girl's jaw dropped as she took up one of them in her fingertips.

"Jesus, are these Swarovski?" She adjusted her glasses in disbelief as she skimmed her thumb over the intricate crystal patterns. Her eyes found the brand's name printed on the ribbon to answer her question. Nicky shrugged.

"She won't miss 'em too much." Alex released her delicate grip on the shimmering ball and smiled. "Time check." Alex took a quick glance to her phone.

"5:04."

"I got a couple bikes in the shed. I pumped them the other day. Should be fine." Nicky placed two of the round ornaments in her hands. They trotted behind Nicky's house once more and stopped in front of the abandoned shack. Alex hauled the creaky door open and they stepped inside the stuffy air. She coughed as sawdust and debris caught in the back of her throat. As the tall girl dealt with her coughing fit outside, Nicky stepped over various tool boxes and broken crates and kicked past empty boxes until she uncovered two sturdy bikes sprawled out on the dusty floor. She wheeled them to Alex one at a time, who felt the tires and leaned them against the corner of the shed.

"They okay?" Nicky fanned dust out of her face and stepped out into the grass.

"Yeah they're good." Alex picked up the green bike and started to wheel it away. Nicky frowned.

"Wait."

"Yeah." Alex stopped mid step and peered over her shoulder. Nicky looked down at the grass that fenced around her boots.

"Can I have the green one?"

"What?" Alex broke eye contact for a second and scrunched her nose and eyes. "Does it matter?" Nicky sighed and deepened her hands in her pockets.

"But the green ones fuckin' awesome." Alex rolled her eyes for the umpteenth time that day and shrugged.

"Yeah, you can have the green one." Nicky let out a victorious " _ha_!" and exchanged her black bike for the green one. They ran with them across the grass, the wheels bouncing along with the scattered lumps in the grass, and hopped on the seats and pedaled down the pavement.

/

 _(4:31)_

 _Piper's hands were cold and clammy behind the wheel, still wound up from the sudden baggage of responsibility on a deadline. Polly didn't seem to car. She was curled up in the passenger's seat, toes resting on the glove compartment and knees right against her chest. She was scrolling through something Piper couldn't look at, as she couldn't bear to take her eyes off the road for a second, and she was humming along to some pop rendition of a Christmas classic._

" _Hey, Pipes, what should I get-" Polly held her glowing screen in front of Piper's line of vision, but before she could finish her sentence, the blonde waved it out her face ._

" _Hold on, let me just get in this lane." She glanced over at her left mirror and turned on her signal, cruised into the line of traffic, double checking the rearview mirror as she continued._

 _Polly rolled her eyes at how safe a driver she was._

 _She started to slow at a yellow light and gave partial attention to Polly. "Okay, what was is you wanted to tell me?" The girl shifted herself around in the leather seat to make easier eye contact with the right side of her face, which was still focused on the road in front of her._

" _I'm deciding on what color headphones I should pick up for Pete." Piper's blue eyes widened to saucers and she braked hard at the red light, stunning the car with a violent jolt. She snapped her head to the girl, her face overwhelming with shock and remembrance and she rolled her sapphire irises back into her stressed, blonde head._

" _Fuck," she turned again to face her front and closed her eyes. "I completely forgot to get Larry a gift." She released a heavy groan from the depths of her core, letting her forehead fall against the wheel. She knocked her head against it a few times, scolding herself for being so forgetful when she had so much time before, but Polly stopped her by placing a hand on her now freshly knotted back._

" _Pipes, it's fine. You're stressing way too much. All we have to do is pick up this food, and then we can stop at Radioshack and get him some nice speakers or something while I pick up my gift. I'll call them up to put them on hold." Piper looked at her friend, who was already dialing the number on her phone and bringing the device up to her ear. She sighed wistfully._

" _How do you have it to together?" Polly rolled her eyes and shrugged._

 _Even during Polly's phonecall, Piper felt a significantly large weight lift off her shoulders. She continued to drive, hands a bit more relaxed on the wheel, but not much, and Polly remained curled up in her seat. But a mischievous grin spread across her cheeks when she hung up._

" _So are you excited when Larry comes?" She put her phone in the cup holder and adjusted herself to face the driver._

" _I mean yeah he's my boyfriend." She feigned a casual smile._

" _I bet he's gonna get you something super nice." Piper laughed and silently prayed that it wasn't __too_ _nice. "How's it going with him? You make it to second yet?" The blonde rolled her eyes._

" _No, Pol, you know we're not like that,"_

" _Oh, come on it has to happen at some point. And Larry's great. I don't know why you're being so weird." And Polly left the topic like that. Open ended. Unsolved._

 _Piper adjusted her posture and squeezed down a little harder on the gas._

 _Larry was a nice guy. He was attractive, his family loved her, he had good grades, a stable future, and even though he was a bit pushy at times, he had a golden personality. He always put her first. Whether it was about standing in like line or serious matters, Piper was never second. He adored her. He had her on this shiny pedestal where Piper was for the world to see and everyone could know she's his. He always made sure people knew it. Holding hands in public, slinging an arm around her when someone would look too long. Or when Piper would say something absurd and all he'd do was shoot her a look and continue about his day. And as much as it all was with the best in mind, Piper wasn't sure she liked that. In fact, she knew she didn't. Piper was in a rut. It was always like this on all her relationships, and Larry was just a new face for the struggle. That every guy was nice and practically upon the highest boyfriend quality, but with everything, something wasn't right. It was like a hole in Piper's heart that continued to expand over time. She couldn't put her finger on it, and hoped that in not knowing what was missing, the hole would eventually fill itself, but it always made itself known. But every time it would address itself, Piped would push it aside and continue about her life. Telling herself that this relationship was fine. __That it could be_ _worse. __Because this relationship was_ _safe_ _. Because that's how Piper played it. Piper played it_ _safe._

 _Piper_ _calmly_ _parked the car, the blonde pulled the key out of the ignition, putting the engine to sleep. They got out, locking the doors behind them, and trotted out into a small dessert shop. The smell of sugar and sweet coffee filled their noses and made their mouths water. The first thing to make an impression on them was the proud, towering croquembouche with a golden spun sugar web that first greeted them in the doorway. And then the flowery cupcakes them a chirped gentle hello and the two and three tiered cakes nodded in acknowledgement. The place was quaint and humble, a chalk menu stating a coffee and dessert menu in curly pink handwriting. And the walls were painted a gentle shade of pink._

 _A small, old woman came to the cash register._

" _Hello, how are you lovely ladies?" She smiled kindly at them, a soft French accent seasoning her voice. Piper took an instant liking to her and Polly took an instant liking to the cupcake display behind the glass._

" _Hi, I have a pick up order. Under the name Chapman." The woman pulled up a name on a computer screen and took a moment to pile up he boxes of deserts on the counter. Piper was stacking one on top of the other and it took Polly a moment to pry herself from her sugary love. But they gathered up everything and payed, bidding the woman a Merry Christmas, and once again, they were back outside._

" _See that didn't take long at all? No stress." Polly unlocked the car and helped Piper arrange the boxes in the backseat._

" _Yeah. That place really calmed me down." Piper shut the door when she set the last of the boxes in the back. But then a visible cloud of stress came over her once more. "But how are these not gonna melt?" Polly groaned._

" _Calm down. I'll stay in the car with them. I'll talk you through it and we'll be back home and cleaning the house." Polly opened the passenger's side and got in, Piper doing the like. "No stress." Polly clicked herself in._

" _No stress." Piper turned the key, revving the engine. "Except for the-"_

 _Polly tuned her out after that._

/

(5:48)

They threw their bikes in the unkempt hedges that lined the empty parking lot and started for the door.

"You said you know them right?"

"Yeah. It's fine. We'll get a good deal." They trotted past the blinking PAWN sign with the A burned out and walked through the door. The festive jingle bells chimed as the door shut behind them. It wasn't like they hadn't been to a pawn shop before, but the fluorescent lighting and dirty carpet made the place seem authentic. An aged out version of _Santa Clause is Coming to Town_ playing behind the shining guitars and antique tapestries that decorated the walls. The smudged display case contained rows of jewelry and firearms and pristine model cars that looked like they scored someone a retirement plan. Alex dragged her finger across the glass, crossing the paths of items worth hundreds to thousands.

"Hey, Chang!" Nicky called out. The place stood still as her voice was absorbed through the vacant place, the two awkwardly shuffling about in front of the counter. Alex polished her glasses on the end of her jacket, giving Nicky a doubtful eye and Nicky responding with a reassuring gesture. She careened over the counter until her toes just dangled above the unswept floor.

"Chang, you in here?" She called again. Alex stepped up to the counter and rested her elbows on the glass top, glasses on head. Nicky drummed her blunt nails against the case and stopped when the sound of footsteps grew closer. But the girl furrowed her brow when a man who certainly was _not_ Chang strode through the beaded curtains on the other side.

"Hey, where's Chang?" She scowled. The man grinned in recognition, as if the two had known each other as sworn enemies in another life. He combed a hand through his close cut brown hair and scoffed.

"Not here, sweetheart," he groomed his thick mustache and chuckled. Nicky rolled up the sleeves of her flannel and leaned in until the two were nose and nose.

"Where's. Chang."

"Don't you see the sign, sweetheart? Under new management." He pointed a brass ringed finger to the sign on the door the girls seemed to have missed. But Nicky set her jaw and hardened her almond eyes even more. "And I ain't sellin' to you."

"Why the fuck not?" The man leaned back from their mini showdown and shrugged his broad shoulders.

"Cause I don't have to." He puffed out his lower lip and Nicky relaxed her iron gaze. She shrugged her vested shoulders and rolled up her sleeves again.

"Well I mean, I guess I understand. You probably have more important things on your mind." She began spinning a rack of vintage postcards, the axis squeaking painfully as it turned. Her face brightened when a sudden epiphany struck her from above. "Ah, it's laundry day. You finally make some time to wash your crusty sheets? Or you've incorporated your home affaires into office life?" She stopped rotating the display to twinkle her five fingers and he leaned in again, the glass rattling from banging his fists against the table.

"Watch your mouth."

"Fuck you, Pornstache." She hissed between clenched teeth. The revived staredown, though more intense and narrow-eyed than before, didn't last long when a younger looking man walked through the still swaying beads.

"Mendez, lay off." The man glared at the almond eyed girl, who grimaced in return. Then she turned to the new man in front of her, mirroring his relaxed posture. "How can I help you ladies?"

"We'd like to sell these. They're Swarovski crystals." Alex brought up the two ornaments she held in her hands and laid them on the counter, careful to not let them roll off. Nicky placed the icicle shaped one next to the two spheres and the man inspected them one by one. Picking them up one at a time, holding them up to the light, humming to himself. Alex looked at Nicky, who could do nothing but fold her lips into an expression that communicated the same thing. They waited to see his offer, watching his intricate process of checking the condition and other possible issues. And when he put down the last ornament he smiled, warming the girls' bones.

"Okay, so I can give you about fifty for each, but because it's the holidays and because Mendez is a dick," he stopped midsentence to take in both the girl's expectant expressions. "I'll bump you to two hundred." Alex's eyes smiled and her lips ascended into one that matched theirs. Nicky raised her brows and grinned, looking up at a shocked Alex.

"We'll take it!" The man smiled and he pulled out two Benjamins from the register and slid them across the table.

"Thank you so much, really." Alex folded the crisp bill and slid it into her jacket pocket, sure to zip it tight. She shook firm hands with him and he winked benevolently.

"Yeah, thanks," Nicky shook his hand and squinted, waiting for a name to match the face. The young man took her hand in his.

"Bennett."

" _Bennett._ What a _gentleman."_ Nicky darted her eyes over to a glowering Mendez. He let out a final huff and disappeared the beaded curtains once more.

"Pleasure doing business with you, sir."

"Anytime, ladies."

And they were out the door again, the silver bells clanking as they left.

/

 _(5:24)_

" _Okay, you stay here, and I'm gonna go. You said you ordered both things right?"_

" _Yeah, just go," Polly rolled up the window, brushing off Piper's efficiency._

 _An alarm chimed as she entered and a man in a polo greeted her._

" _Hi, welcome to RadioShack."_

" _Hi, thank you." She glanced down at her phone, reminding herself of the time. My friend placed an order. Her name's Polly." The guy smiled and took her back to the cash register, keying the name into the system. But he furrowed his thick brow and typed it in again, with a harder push on the keys the second and third times around._

" _Huh, it doesn't have anything under the name Polly." Piper's heart dropped a foot. She shook her head. She was not about to have this._

" _No it has to be in there I just placed that order." She had to stop herself from seizing the entire computer and typing it in herself. "Do you think you might have spelled it wrong." She realized the nonsensicalness of her question when she remembered that her friend's name was_ _Polly_ _and the guy sent an_ _are you kidding_ _sort of face her way._

 _Ugh._

" _Give me one second." Piper jabbed angry memorized digits her phone and she brought the phone up to her ear._

" _Yeah?" Christmas music was blaring behind Polly's voice._

" _You didn't order them here?!" Piper had to bear all her weight on her voice to keep from shouting._

" _No, I tried telling you but you were like 'oh I'm Piper and I need to be a safe driver'" Polly's imitation of her burned in Piper's stomach, knowing it was true._

" _Never mind. Just tell me what to get."_

" _Get the Sony,"_

" _Sony," Piper repeated to the man._

" _M,"_

" _M,"_

" _D,"_

" _D,"_

" _R,"_

" _R,"_

" _1,"_

" _1,"_

" _0,"_

" _Polly, how long is this name,"_

" _Long."_

 _Piper swallowed a groan._

" _0,"_

" _R,"_

" _R,"_

" _B,"_

" _B,"_

" _T,"_

" _T."_

" _In gunmetal."_

" _In gunmetal."_

 _He types the agonizing name into the system and made a beeline for the back. Piper strolled over to the speakers. Tracing the borders of the minimalistic buttons and pressing one. She jumped when roaring 70's music came from the tiny thing and her finger flew back to the button to shut it off. Not wanting to have to look at any more speaking with the risk of going deaf, she decided to get those for Larry._

" _He like stuff like that. Right?"_

 _She shook herself of the question._

 _The man came back, box in hand._

" _Here you are, your Sony MDR10RBT in gunmetal."_

 _He made saying the name sound so goddamn_ _easy._

 _She grabbed a box with the new gift inside and payed for the two at the counter, trying her best to forget about the ordeal and go about the day._

 _When she slid behind the driver's seat, she didn't even look at Polly, who luckily took the precaution of blasting the AC in the backseat before anything could melt._

 _Polly looked up from her phone and smiled nervously._

" _Sorry, Mom." Piper sighed. Polly laughed._

/

There's part one. Remember to leave your reviews. See you tomorrow. ~S


	5. Holiday special part 2

_Hello all again! I know I just posted this chapter Xmas day but my computer kept having tech issues and I'm really trying to work out this knots and get a new laptop. If you need a refresher, check the last chapter or if you're just hopping on the OLAL train, welcome! I won't be so active to post the next chapter (maybe until Jan sometime) but I will work really hard to make some time for it. But anyway, reminder that the italics with the tildas are song lyrics. Here's part two. Don't forget to leave your reviews (nothing brings me more joy than reading your reviews! Ah! You all are so great), follow, and do whatever if you want. Enjoy, ~S_

* * *

(6:13)

Alex had to stop Nicky from storming into the farm too loudly or from denting Kurt's lined face in when or if they'd have to face him again. So as they came up on the humble farm, Nicky's cool breaths were heated with curses and sporadic rants, even before she knew if her new enemy was there. Kurt was still meandering about the humming trees and checking his watch every few moments. Alex prayed to the darkening clouds that Kurt wasn't still on duty, knowing all too well that Nicky would take no time at all to flare herself up again and rip the poor fucker to bits with her seething words. And when the fiery girl saw the stocky man in the distance, Alex was sure to stay close by, just in case anything happened.

"Hey, _Kurt!_ " She barked. Kurt turned around slowly, groaning inaudibly when he took Nicky and Alex into account. She thundered to him and whipped out her one hundred dollar bill. "We got our money now give us our tree." Kurt looked at the two of them for a cloyed moment, taking the bill in his hands, and let his unenthused eyes fall behind his eyelids.

"Follow me," he started for the lonely tree, walking a little too lethargically for Nicky's taste. And when she was about to let a screw loose, Alex put a cold hand on her shoulder, Nicky backing off instantaneously. The man called over a young man, who cut down their leafy prize and hauled it over to the tarped over register. Alex counted out the other remaining sixty seven dollars. And when all was said and done and they were walking away with their beautiful, _robust,_ tree, Nicky turned around and giving a final "fuck you, Kurt." , Alex taking the opposite route and wishing him a happy holiday.

They walked with the tree over their jacketed shoulders, Alex lifting from the back and Nicky leading from the front. And when they came upon their bikes, it didn't take them too long to realize the new issue at hand.

"Nicky. How the fuck are we gonna get this thing out of here." They stood over their bikes, dumbfounded.

"I think we gotta take the bus." Nicky started attempting to lift the handle of her bike with her shoe, dropping it on the pavement every try. Alex closed her eyes and inhaled.

"Kay, so there are two problems with that." Alex wiped the dirt from the trunk off her hand adjust her glasses. "One, we can't afford to spend any money if we're gonna buy ornaments or food because we haven't eaten in five hours." She hoisted the trunk up her shoulder to prevent it from slipping down her arm. "And two, in what world would bringing a _Christmas tree_ on a _public bus_ be acceptable?" Nicky groaned, mentally scolding herself for abandoning those important factors so quickly. She too took a second to shrug the tree on her shoulder.

"I mean we could hitchhike."

"Pervs."

They thought in silence for another minute, the cool breeze kissing their necks and hands.

"I mean I guess we could take the bus. We just need to spend fifty on decorations and twenty something on food." Nicky nudged her heel backwards into Alex's shin, rubbing in even further her keenness in the problem solving department.

Alex nudged the back of her denim leg, stamping a "fuck you" on her calf.

They started towards the post, deciding their bikes would be waiting for them the next day, and picked up their pace when they saw the bus squeak at its stop. Right foot, then left, right, then left, like military men or toy soldiers. The doors swung open, revealing the face of a hefty woman at the driver's seat, shooting them rays of condescending judgements and other telepathic forms of degradation.

They plowed through the narrow entry way onto the steps of the bus, slivers of evergreen falling onto the floor beneath their feet. Nicky managed to shimmy the front half of the tree through the tough spot between the top two steps and the front row of seats while alex was struggling to get out the four dollar fee from her pocket. Between trying to push out the spruce and fully plumed center of the tree and pulling out a sufficient amount of bills, she eventually grew too frustrated with the multitasking and took the liberty to ask for assistance.

"Can you just. Get the money out yourself?" The driver raised a brow at her. "Yeah just like, reach in there and it should be right in there." She hesitantly slipped her hand in Alex's pocket and pulled out a wad of singles, pulling her hand out almost immediately after finding the sufficient amount. "Wasn't too bad right?"

She pushed out the rest of the tree and followed Nicky to their seats.

Alex sat the tree in a vacant seat next to her as she plopped down next to Nicky, who was gazing out the window, watching the streetlights do by.

"Whatcha thinkin'?" Nicky turned to her and blinked slowly.

"Ah, nothin'" She turned back around, Alex gaze still fixed upon the back of her auburn head.

"Don't fucking lie to me. You know you're wasting your time." Alex punched her flanneled arm and she laughed. But that smile faded back into one that was still sinking in thought. "Come on, tell me. What's on your mind." She peered through her friend's almond eyes and the girl sighed.

"I'm worried about Morello." Alex raised her glasses to the crown of her dark head.

"Care to elaborate?" Nicky broke eye contact for a moment.

"I'm just worried about her ex." Alex bent her brow and made a face.

"Why should you be worried about Tony Roma?" Nicky scoffed at the nickname. "They broke up months ago."

"I think she's still into him." Alex deepened her thin brow even further.

"But that doesn't matter. You're just fucking. No strings attached." Nicky brought her gaze to her lap, taking a sudden fascination in the pattern of the bus carpeting. "Unless you want-"

The obscured situation at hand dawned upon the brunette and she dropped her weighted jaw. Alex slapped her friend's shoulder with the back of her hand. " _No."_ Nicky finally picked up her gaze.

"I knew you'd say that. But it's true." Alex lowered her glasses and raked a hand through her hair.

"I would tell you my actual piece of advice, but I'm a heartless pragmatist who feeds off the souls of the living. So I'm gonna tell you to follow your heart like every Disney movie on the fucking planet and hope it gives you some motivation and sentiment on my part." Alex nudged her round cheek and smiled, Nicky flinching at the gesture. The bus came to a screaming half and Alex just seized the tree from falling. The two got up and manned their positions around the trunk and marched down the aisle. And when they wished the driver a Merry Christmas, all she did was look at the mess of evergreen on the stairs and sigh.

/

 _(6:13)_

 _Piper may or may not have pulled into her driveway a little too quickly when they came upon her house. Polly's phone nearly flew out of her hands and would have skidded across the dashboard if it wasn't for her quick seize on her device. They got out of the car, Piper moving significantly faster than Polly. She punched in the garage code and made her way through the maze of cardboard boxes and plastic bins, picking up a crate full of cleaning supplies and a two pairs of pedicure flip flops._

" _Polly, get those two mop thingies." The girl complied and carried it through the narrow hallway of washing machines and dryers close behind the blonde now. Piper dropped the crate hard against the broad dining room table and Polly set the Wetjets against it. They turned to the house, finally taking into account the vast living room, great kitchen and the copious amount of floor. And they felt gloomy, weighted clouds looming over them once more when they realized they had to clean_ _all of it._

" _How is it that you're mother was stressing over this and_ _still_ _managed to get_ _nothing done?"_ _Polly asked dryly._

" _No time to think." Piper asserted, throwing her hair into a loose bun and picking up a Wetjet. "We have," She glanced at the grand clock at the entry way. "An hour to clean. And we need to wrap gifts. And set up." The blonde sighed. "Everything." Polly set up a timer on her phone, trading her sandals for a pair of mustard yellow flip flops._

" _I'll get over here and you get the kitchen."_

" _Good plan." They started mopping like mad, Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas is you blaring out from Polly's phone-in-a-mug makeshift speaker. Piper tip-toed in zig zags with her mop twice through the kitchen and payed extra attention to the stubborn corners and beneath appliances. Polly crouched to kill the dust under China cabinets and under the plentiful tree. Piper went around with the mop one more time for safety while Polly nearly settled for her single._

" _Polly, make another lap," The girl groaned and jogged around again._

 _Piper scurried to the cleaning crate and traded her mop for a rag and granite cleaner and all purpose spray while Polly swiped Windex and paper towels at the same time. Polly sprayed each window with a generous amount. Scrubbing each window with vigor and haste. Piper poured dribblet of counter cleaner and sponged down until she saw her blonde reflection in the fine granite. She wiped the floor to ceiling windows and didn't stop until the sun filtered in even stronger through the crystal glass. She scrubbed the kitchen sink with her towel-shielded fingertip, sure to get every nook and cranny, and shined the stove and microwave. And to finish her record-time kitchen clean, she replaced the garbage bag, tying the full on with a tight knot and bringing it out to where Polly was, who was finishing up the coffee table and polishing a silver nativity set._

" _Okay. Now we gotta clean the bathrooms."_

" _Ugh can you get those and I'll run up and down the stairs and clean the banister n' stuff." Simply too occupied and stressed to argue, she grunted and Polly scurried up the stairs._

 _Piper scrubbed down the bathrooms as quickly as she could in the ten minute time limit she set. And when she came out she was pleased to find Polly arranging candles on the dining room table and a set of three already on the coffee table. She sighed in relief and thanked her. Polly smiled, still panting from cleaning the stairs and wiping a thin sheen of sweat from her forehead_

" _I think that's everything we need." Piper pulled off her soaked latex gloves. Polly also released a sigh, admiring their tiring job. "Now we need to wrap gifts and arrange food." Her friend huffed, reviving her tired spirit. "You're faster at wrapping than I am. You take care of these while I go set up food and light candles." She slid Pete's and Larry's gifts across the table to a seated Polly. She dashed to the closet and back._

 _And then stacked a tower of gifts behind them._

" _Piper, holy shit you didn't wrap anything?!" Poppy gaped. The blonde gave her a pair of scissors and a roll of paper and bows._

" _You have," She checked the timer "Fifteen minutes." Piper scurried into the kitchen, leaving a helpless Polly behind her mountain of work._

/

(6:22)

They left their hard earned tree at the cash register, with an acne faced teen with not in inch of muscle on his body, and they made a beeline into the significantly warmer store, stomachs roaring beyond belief. At this point, they didn't have a care in the world as to where their food came from as long as it was solid, not expired (arguable), and edible in general. So the first thing they spend their final $87 dollars on was roller food at the counter, which surprisingly, did _not_ have a very forgiving price.

So now, they were milling about the back of the store with all the festive items imaginable, armed with hotdogs and sodas.

"Okay, we have forty dollars here," Alex took a ravenous bite. "And this stuff isn't cheap." Swallow. "So ten on lights, five on a star, and the rest on ornaments." She took a gulp of Dr. Pepper and started scanning the shelves. Nicky began sorting through a disorganized wire crate of various Christmas miscellanea. She reached into the wire crate and fished out a box of purple lights. They didn't look to graceful, already tangled in a complex knot already inside the box. But she abandoned that factor and checked the box for the price.

 _$9.99._

"Is purple a Christmas color?"

"It is now."

Alex tossed it in the cart and continued browsing.

She checked the tags of some of the glass ornaments, but gave up when she realized that most of them would be in the twenty to thirty dollar price range. So she eliminated the luxury of glass and moved on to the next row of ornaments. Nicky scanned with her on the other side, reaching up to pick and ornament just out of the corner of Alex's eye.

Nicky tapped her shoulder, holding a festive dick-shaped ornament to her crotch.

"I bet I can fuck you straight," she lowered her voice an octave, and bit her lip dramatically to remind Alex of a memorable event that happened last Christmas. Alex scrunched her nose, but she didn't let up.

"Imma deck your halls," and that's when Alex shoved her hard, Nicky doubling over in laughter and Alex trying too hard force her lips into a frown.

The ended up putting the ornament into the cart, deciding it commemorated this day and the "amount of dicks they faced." Alex could argue, it was an accurate representation of their hectic schedule and the majority of the people they encountered. And coming in at about $3.57, Alex didn't have time to argue and put it in with the purple lights, wiping her _contaminated_ hands on her jeans.

Nicky was searching through boxes of tinsel and various Christmas figurines when she came upon it. The Christmas blessing that would make make their struggle all worthwhile. She reached back into the depths of the shelf, pulling out a plastic tub of plastic ornaments of _actual_ Christmas colors. Her eyes lit up, like two honey diamonds finding a gold mine, and she could barely stammer out Alex's name as she held the treasure in her hands.

"Vause." Alex didn't hear her the first time, too concentrated on the price of a bag of gold tinsel. She slapped the pitcher's shoulder. "Vause look at this." Alex made a quick glance in her direction, not fully comprehending the magnitude of the box, but then abandoning the thing in her own hands to pay respect to the new beauty Nicky now possessed.

"Check the price," she said , swallowing down the hope that that began to swell in her throat. The girl flipped over the box and searched for the number at the bottom. And when her eyes fell upon it, her face grew as still as a stone.

A brief silence came between them, allowing them to hear their heartbeats.

" _Fifteen fifty,_ " Nicky breathed. Alex put a hand to her chest and let out a sigh of the biggest forms relief. She took the box in her hands, kissed the plastic, and lowered it down into the cart.

They were a little more relieved now, feeling a great deal of weight being eased off of their shoulders as they made their way to the grocery aisle. And because they were about ten dollars under their decorating budget, Nicky took the liberty of putting in a couple candy bars for the ride home. Alex put in another, just to remind herself she was ten dollars rich.

They meandered around to the meat counter, Alex adjusting her glasses to gloss over the variety of steaks and cuts of meat. Keeping in mind that Nicky's black eye expanded past her eye and also they were on a budget, she looked for something boneless and large in area. She picked up a four pack of hamburger patties and before she could drop it in the cart, she was stopped.

"It's for your eye. That thing looks painful."

"Hamburger meat?"

"Yeah, you can mold it to your face." Nicky made a face.

"I'm a lady, give me a New York strip." Alex picked up the package of the requested cut and checked the price.

"$18.99. Either this or frozen peas." Nicky pondered it for a moment.

"Eh, I'll take Sirloin."

"What a sacrifice."

"What can I say, I'm a lady of compromise."

And with that, she dropped it in the cart and whey wheeled away.

They drew nearer to a counter with precooked food, a man in a white apron and a hairnet packing away food into a garbage bag with latex gloves.

Nicky trotted up to it, protesting.

"Aw come on, you're really gonna throw away all that?" The man turned to her, not bothering to answer. Nicky leaned over the slim counter. "Maybe you can spare us some meatloaf? Or perhaps some rice pilaf?" The man kept packing, still not paying the girl a sliver of his attention. She looked up back to her tall friend, who shrugged and adjusted her glasses. "Come on, I'll pay for it."

That's what finally got his attention.

He stopped his packing and turned his face to Nicky.

"How much?"

"Uh," she turned back to Alex.

"Forty bucks."

"Forty bucks," Nicky echoed to him, louder. He looked to something behind an industrial sized refrigerator and then back to them.

"I got some potato salad and chicken fingers." Nicky looked back again to Alex, who gave her a covert thumbs up.

"We'll take it!" Nicky called, a broad grin expanding on her cheeks. The man bagged up their meal and gave it to them. He began flattening out the two twenties against the edge of the counter, wishing them a Merry Christmas without looking up from his task.

Alex and Nicky took their stuff up to the cash register, paying for everything in full and then realizing they were faced with the same issue they had with their bikes.

"Uh, your place isn't too far from here right?" Nicky gaped at the bags and small tins of food, and then to the tree that was slumped next to the counter where they left it. Alex thought for a moment, swishing her lips from side to side. She glanced at the cart in she still wheeled and then to the teen behind the register, lost in his own thoughts as well.

"Hey, bud." She smiled awkwardly, the boy shocked Alex was actually addressing _him._ She clapped her hands together, keeping them together in a praying form. " _Listen,_ see that tree?" She gestured to it with her pointed hands. "Yeah, we can't take that on a bus with all this baggage. So what would be _super_ great is if you could let us have this cart and return it tomorrow morning." She folded her lips in upon each other and separated her hands, awaiting his answer. He shrugged and his tired eyes darted about for a moment.

"Yeah, go ahead." Alex thanked him, hauling the shedding tree and Nicky carefully packing in the bags like a complex game of tetris. They wheeled out their cart into the cold. The catcher folded her arms to keep in her warmth. Alex did the like and zipped her jacket a little further.

"Time check." Alex was reluctant to unfold her arms to see her watch. Her eyes widened.

"Shit, it's 7:00."

"Diane's gonna be home any minute now, right?"

"Yeah we got 'till 7:30." Nicky blew another strand of tangled hair from her face and pushed up her shades.

"Well come on let's go."

And they ran through the dark, the cart wheels shrieking down the road.

/

(7:27)

Nicky smacked the radio button on her way in and the speakers revved to life. Alex rushed to clear a corner for the tree, pushing their small leather couch out of the way.

"Come on, we have three minutes until she gets here." Alex set up the pedestal for the tree and Nicky hoisted it up on the thing, steadying it and securing it. And when she was sure the tree wasn't going to collapse, she popped open the box of ornaments, Frank Sinatra crooning all through the apartment.

 _~Have yourself a merry little Christmas~_

" _Polly, come on just push it through," Piper squealed through her teeth as she combed mascara through her lashes. Her friend was wiggling an earring through her stubborn hole, and the blonde's already reddened ear was_ _not_ _having it._

" _Piper, the hole is closed. This thing isn't gonna happen." She took out the pearl and dropped it in Piper's fish shaped ring dish. The blonde groaned._

" _I don't care. This earring is happening. Even if I bleed for it." She handed back the earring to Polly, who took it in back in her hands apprehensively. The blonde pulled her lobe down and let herself get carried away in the Christmas song that was humming through Polly's speakers. Her friend positioned it through whatever opening was left, taking in a deep breath._

" _Okay. One. Two. Three-"_

 _~Let your heart be light~_

"Why are you putting them all on one side?!" Alex was hanging ornaments, sure to spread them out amongst the branches. While Nicky focused her's on only the left side. She groaned.

"I was gonna spread them out anyway," The wild-haired girl started moving her tightly placed ornaments towards the front of the tree while Alex scrambled to untangle the lights.

"Ugh, we should've put these on first." She was already growing frustrated with the awful knots in the wires, snarling curses under her breath directed at the difficult coils.

"No time to go back, We got less than two minutes."

 _~From now on, our troubles will be out of sight~_

 _Polly's timer went off just as guests began knocking at the door. Piper swallowed down a bitter taste as she heard her mother's voice greeting them. The girls gave each other expectant looks, Polly's eyes glistening with excitement and Piper's eyes forcing their shine. But Polly didn't seem to notice. No one ever really did._

 _~Have yourself a merry little Christmas~_

Nicky scurried around the tree and wrapped their purple lights around the branches, her eyes already swirling with dizziness. Alex emptied their chicken and potato salad into glass dishes and set them up on the small coffee table. And when Alex turned to her friend, who already had her shades tossed on the coffee table behind her, she was hanging their new, lovely dick ornament next to a sparkling red one.

"Do the honors." Nicky stepped back and Alex shimmied her way behind the boughs. She took the black plug in her hands and slid it into the outlet. And in one flick of a switch, the room became a purple beacon of light. She joined her friend, who was already sighing wistfully and reveling in their purple tree, soaking up all their struggles they went through in the short span of a few hours. And when Alex stepped next to her, she turned to the tall girl and smiled, the brunette returning the sentiment.

 _~Make the Yuletide gay~_

 _Larry looked sharp. Like he just came out of a Christmas movie from 1963. A maroon sweater vest and suede dress shoes. Piper waited at the top of the stairs for a moment, waiting until Larry noticed her presence. And when he finally did, his eyes widened and his eyebrows raised. His lips shaped into a smile as Piper descended to meet him._

" _You look fantastic," He said sheepishly. She forced a small smile, remembering Polly's conversation from their hectic agenda._

" _Thank you," He pecked her on the cheek. But Piper didn't blush. From behind his back he revealed a thin rectangular box, wrapped in red paper with a gold, glistening bow on top. He smiled again at her as she took it in her hands and began gently unpacking the box._

 _Her stomach fell when she found that it was a necklace. And an expensive looking one too at that. She thanked him of course and he fastened the strand of petite diamonds around her neck. And she flashed him a gleaming smile. And she smiled when he took her delicate hand in his when to escort her up the stairs to meet their other friends. And she smiled when everyone turned to greet them. Because that's what girlfriends did. They smiled._

 _~From now on, our troubles will be miles away~_

The door made a heavy thud that shook the walls of the house, startling the two in front of the Christmas tree. Their eyes blew up to the size of the moon outside and watched intently as the door thudded again. Diane walked through the door, bags draping her shoulders and a heavy pink windbreaker puffing her body. She looked stressed. Diane always did. Violet circles cursed the corners of her eyes and her hair always seemed to be thrown up in some kind of ponytail or bun. But when the woman lifted her gaze to the tree, it was like her circles faded and she was young again.

She brought a shaky hand to her mouth and stood, frozen in the doorway as she absorbed the tree in all its purple glory. And then she moved her glassy eyes to the girls standing bashfully in front of it, smiles painting their faces. Becoming aware that she was unable to move, the two girls trotted over to her, wrapping their arms around her. They wished her Merry Christmases and asked questions about her day. But she didn't speak. All she could do was cry.

 _~Here we are as in olden days~_

 _Polly was already under Pete's arm, leaning up to kiss him every few moments. Pete and Larry and one of Pete's friends were shooting pool. Piper hugged the wall and observed as they talked about sports and whatever else she could translate. She giggled at facetious comments, reacted to burns, and overlooked the game, attempting to give Larry assistance on possible shots and then shying away when he ignored her. When it was Pete's turn, Polly trailed behind him, linked at his palm._

" _Come on, lighten up. This is fun." She nudged Piper's shoulder as she passed her._

" _Yeah." She thought. "_ _Fun."_

 _~Happy golden days of yore~_

"I can't believe you kids did this all today!" Diane said, taking a generous bite of chicken. "This is all so beautiful. Thank you for doing this." She looked down at Alex, who was curled up under her arm and smiled, planting a fond kiss on her daughter's forehead. Nicky focused her gaze on the tree for a moment, allowing mother and daughter to share their moment in privacy of sorts. But Diane sensed the longing beneath the girl's respect and smiled warmly. "Aw, come here, you. You're my kid too." Nicky blushed and fell into Diane's open arms, receiving the kiss on the side of her head. All of them struggling to stay on the leather couch at once.

 _~Faithful friends who are dear to us~_

 _The dessert was the best that Piper had in awhile. The Christmas dinner was fantastic too. She ate to her hearts content, knowing all too well that she'd end up only listening to the conversation. All of her comments would get rolled over anyway. So she figured with a full mouth, her future as conversation onlooker would at least be secure. And it was. She laughed and only rested her head on Larry's chest when she wanted. Polly was avid in her input. She always contributed greatly in the conversation and had a knack for following conversation. But Piper didn't. She was okay just being there. Laughing, joking,_

 _smiling._

 _~Gather near to us once more~_

They managed to figure out a barnacle inspired formation that allowed them all to be on the couch at the same time. Nicky held the meat to her eye and told the story of their adventurous day. She recounted everything with flying colors, paying special attention to their encounters with Kurt, and they laughed. They all were happy now. Diane had let her hair loose and kicked off her shoes and she was laughing as if she didn't have work tomorrow. Alex's ear was pressed against Diane's chest, listening as her heartbeats and laughter swelled like symphonies in her ear. And she had to stop her eyes from glossing over at it all.

 _~Through the years we all will be together~_

 _She must've fallen asleep or stared too deeply into space because when she woke up from wherever, but it was Larry who was looking down on her._

 _She could barely carry her eyelids when she came back to earth, but when she realized that the loft was empty, she received a sudden spike in energy._

" _Where is everyone?" She couldn't rub her still tired eyes, she dabbed their corners instead to keep her makeup in tact. Larry was grinning from ear to ear and took her warm hands in his cold ones._

" _Come on, Pipes. It's snowing!" She peeked out the window in the distance and lo and behold, graceful snowflakes were tapping against the window and floating down like feathers. "Let's go! Everyone's out there."_

 _Her pulled her up from the couch and they hurried down the stairs._

 _~If the fates allow~_

Alex was trying to nestle further into the crook of her mother's arm when she saw them. The gentle flurries of snow outside her window. And when she processed that it was _actually snowing,_ she couldn't help but nod a head to her five-year-old self, nudging her mother who was still too caught up in the story and tapping glass above them.

"Mom!"

"What, baby?"

"It's snowing!" Alex kept tapping the glass until Diane shifted herself upright to see outside. She wiped the frost off the window with her sleeve and Nicky got up from her position too and watched them fall.

"It didn't even snow last year!" Nicky inched in closer to the glass, eyes flooding with childish awe.

"My god, it's so beautiful!" Diane gasped. She stood quickly, grabbing her girls by the hand. "Let's go outside. Before it stops and doesn't come till January." The girls and mother sprinted down the stairs, amped up and chattering like children. But all chatter stopped when they finally came outside.

The night had them in mind. As if the violet sky had dressed up just for them. The mood graced them with her generous gifts, washing them with pale light. The snow gave them wet kisses as they melted upon their bare skin. And a chorus of stars sang carols above them, illuminating the rooftops. Nicky immediately ran out into the open air. Spinning with her arms outstretched. Cheering the sky on with her hoops and hollers. She stuck out her tongue in attempts to taste the flurries and she was straining to laugh with her head tipped back so far. Alex was catching snowflakes in her hands, watching them as they became teardrops in her palms. And Diane was just smiling. That smile that made her the most beautiful woman in the world. The one that made Alex want burrow her nose in her mother's neck and never let go. That's just what she did. And they stayed there until their were numb.

 _~Hang a shining star upon the highest bough~_

 _Piper watched by the front steps as the boys and Polly ran around in the cold. Laughing and chasing each like fools. Her legs were numb, so she couldn't possibly join them. So she settled to watch them and join the fun from afar._

 _Larry eventually trotted back to her, panting. He took her in his sweatered arms and Piper buried herself in them, lapping up the warmth like it was vital. They began swaying side to side, Larry humming to some Christmas song Piper was too tired to make out. And he pressed his lips to the top of her head, pulling her closer still. Piper felt her legs coming back to life. But that was about it. Nothing stirred her. She only breathed the biting air and his scent and felt nothing else coursing through her lungs. She turned her head and sighed, watching as Pete tackled Polly and she careened forward in a fit of laughter. And he wrapped his arms around her and they began to sway just as she was. Piper couldn't be picky. She decided she was being too much so. So she pulled herself closer into him. Still feeling that unfilled hole deepening inside her. But she let it deepen, convincing herself that nothing was missing. That she was okay, even if something was._

 _~And have yourself a merry little Christmas now~_

 **And they watched the stars go by.**

/

* * *

 _I hope all of you have/had a safe, amazing holiday. You guys are so fucking great. See you in 2016, ~S_


	6. Chapter 4

_Author's notes: Hello loves! I'm so sorry this is so late. But I have valid excuses:_

 _~ I was in the middle of a move and I had to do all the handy work. Yay for painting, moving appliances, putting together tables, screwing in lightbulbs while nearly getting electrocuted in the process._

 _~Also I was feeling super unmotivated. I really need you guys to kick me in the ass more often, and tell me to get moving. Jesus._

 _However, despite my time consuming endeavors of playing Bob the Builder and lack of motivation, I found the time and energy to write this, loaded on coffee and blasting what?_

 _You guessed it: Drake_

 _And to those of you who enjoyed the holiday special, I'm very happy. I apologize it didn't have Vauseman in it, but I had this idea kind of floating about in my head for a while and I included some of Larry/Piper stuff to act as a catalyst for later. Kind of a speeding up mechanism for the plot. BUT to compensate there are LOADS in here! So anyway, here is chapter 4 of OLAL. Be aware that this is kind of long, so get comfy and enjoy! ~S_

* * *

Chapter 4

Alex didn't have to be at the field until 5:30. But right after the final bell blared through the stuffy hallways, she followed Nicky to the clay and watched as pre-practice ritual fell into motion without her. It was an uneasy feeling for the pitcher. How everything was happening without her setting her glasses in their velvet case or her being up front leading her team through practice. Nevertheless she strode into the dugout with the rest of her team and parked herself on the bench where everyone was tossing their duffles.

The first thing she noticed was how out of place she looked in her faded black hoodie and how unarmed her feet felt without her well worn cleats to coat them. And how odd she felt just lounging in the dugout without a glove weighing her left arm down and how her glasses were still perched on the bridge of her nose. She felt a sense of pride splay through her body when the dugout darkened as Piper entered. How her blue eyes drooped when Cindy and Co. gave dirty side eyes and how Nicky shot her a snarky look as she was sliding her freckled hand into her glove. Relief simmered in her stomach knowing that regardless of whether she was there or not, her girls had her back.

But that feeling came and went all too fast when Morello walked in.

The girl sauntered over to the blonde and gave a light tug to her blonde locks. Piper turned a cheek to her and smiled, muttering a mundane "hey". It sickened Alex's stomach to watch the two. Was she expecting a situation of teetering loyalty? Yes. She was well aware of the unforgiving and fast acting consequences of eliminating a team's backbone. How forbidden alliances and twitching habits bubbled up and spread like a deadly virus in the spring. But, _god_ , this one happened so soon. And even though this was only a small splinter, it made Alex cringe when she'd watch how Morello would _smile_ and _respond_ to the blonde's sorry attempts to make small talk. How she'd kindly offer a spot next to her's on the unruptured shelf to put her things. And it made Alex swoon in the worst way possible when she saw the two sit down and _braid each other's_ _hair._

 _Ugh._

It was disgusting. Appalling. Watching them bond in fellowship made Alex want to retch. She knew in her heart that it would be the bubbly Italian to make the first move of camaraderie. The little thing was so damn _nice._ Always giving the benefit of the doubt, accepting certain blonde opponents into her wing of innocent friendship. But she was naive to what poison lived in flowers. In particular, what poison lived in befriending people of indirect rivalry, clothed in Patagonia sweatshirts and embroidered duffle bags. She thanked the sky that Piper had only affected one person, but one person was already more than the pitcher could afford. And like the crazy animal she was, she had to pounce on this blooming issue and sink her claws into the predator in order to turn it into prey.

As the lions piled out onto the green, Alex made it a point to trot out with them. And before it could slip through the meager gap in the crowd, she snatched a hold on a petite shoulder, dragging it aside.

"What do you think you're doing?" Morello gave a perplexed look, but then softened it with kind defenses when she understood the topic at hand.

"Alex, you're panicking too much. She's nice and she needs friends."

"No, she's a nuisance and you're getting distracted."

"You're gonna have to deal with her anyway so what's it to you?"

That's where Alex got caught.

"I know you don't like it, but just be nice. Maybe things will turn up in the end. But only if you let it."

And with that she trotted off.

 _Shit._

The upside of sitting out before and during the two grueling hours of practice was that it gave and already observant Alex an aerial view of it all. And she learned a lot of things during her time on the bleachers. She learned that the reason Pennsatucky was so keen of getting the lacing on her cleats just right was because she wore an ankle sleeve on her left foot. She noticed how much time Nicky _actually_ spent on mooning over the Italian's ass as she squatted during infield drills. (She couldn't help but scoff at that.) But as she sat unoccupied on those empty bleachers, her eyes would never fail to find a way to settle upon that blonde. And how _decent_ she was. Her throws were not all perfect, but 9/10 times, the ball would make a smack against leather and the sound would carry through in the whispering wind. The like went for her batting. Some went out into left field, others went up in the air, but with each swing the aluminum would make an articulated clink and the affirmative rings would make Alex's jaw tighten. Knots formed in her stomach. Air in her lungs would constrict. And every possible awful feeling would close a hand around her throat as she watched this terribly _decent_ girl take over the place Alex had worked years to claim.

But she was hot.

Had this girl not been on Alex's field, she would've swept Piper off her feet and fucked her into the sunset. Her blonde ponytail billowing behind her as she ran bases reminded the pitcher of something she'd see in a movie. The kind of film that she and Nicky would dry heave over. But the kind of blonde she'd lose her hands in. Her black pants pulled tight around the curves of her ass and fielding positions did it an abundance of favors. She'd hear her voice calling for fly balls and its feminine chime reverberated in Alex's air. Whenever she'd hear it, her blood would fizzle beneath her skin as her mind wandered into shadowy ecstasy. Her fists would tense for a moment. Her lips would purse. But she'd ease herself back into bitterness before she could drown in thoughts too sweet. Maybe it was the sun blinding her though her glasses or maybe her souring core was pushing her into a state of hazy vision, but Alex could _definitely_ see her head between a set of fair legs in the future.

But for now, that was the least of her concerns.

She evened out the strings of her hoodie and shifted about in her seat.

Piper was aware of eyes that followed her. Throughout the weeks, eyes had become apart of her skin, numbing into the fibers of her body. Some burned into her form, hoping for a bad hit or a lazy throw of some kind. She was able to brush most of them off and continue on with whatever she was trying to accomplish, but whenever the blonde would look out onto the bleachers, she'd always find an audience. A single-person audience made up of the one person that terrified her most in the world.

And every time she'd lock eyes with her, tremors would echo down her spine.

She seemed so confident perched up there in the stands. Alone. Unbothered. Knowing she couldn't play because of her own negligence. But this girl didn't seem to care at all. This was something that fascinated Piper. How detached and yet so okay with it she appeared to be. Had it been Piper on academic probation, she would've been hunched over her books for hours on end, jacked on coffee, studying until her eyes watered and doing extra credit until her hands were calloused. But this girl had her elbows resting on the set of bleachers behind her, feet propped up on the set below her, raven hair sweeping with the gentle breezes that came and went, observing the time go by as if she held it in her hands. As she was becoming visually acquainted with Alex, she'd convince herself that she was nothing to be afraid of. That this girl didn't have fangs or claws and that she was just someone who was very self aware. But whenever she'd try to talk and her words would shy away from her voice, she'd have no choice but to tell herself she was dead wrong. Alex was something to figure out. A puzzle. But Piper had a feeling that this puzzle wasn't something meant to figure out the girl. It was a puzzle meant to figure out herself.

She pulled herself from the perplexity and adjusted her hands on her bat.

Practice whizzed by Piper, leaving her staggering about as her teammates hustled to their cars, but seemed to slow to a waltz through the two hours when she'd feel Alex's eyes searing through her back. But because practice was over, she wouldn't have to worry about them anymore. She'd be able to shower, throw on a pair of sweats, finish up any leftover studying, and sleep, sure to remind her subconscious _not_ to dream about a certain green-eyed enigma.

"Are you nervous?" Morello nudged her side with her jingling car keys. Piper furrowed her brow.

"For?" The girl furrowed her's.

"Your lesson. With Alex."

 _Shit._

That's when Piper remembered that she _wasn't_ done being tormented by her. That she'd have to stand another hour of oxygen seizing her lungs and tensing muscles in her spine.

"Oh, uh. Yeah. I'm not worried."

 _Wrong._

"Really?"

"Yeah, she doesn't really scare me that much."

 _ **Wrong.**_

"Okay, whatever you say, doll," Morello smiled nervously, turning on her heels to leave her behind.

The blonde tucked a nervous hand behind her, crossing her fingers behind her devastated back.

She saw Alex stir from her nest on the bleachers, hopping down from her high perch and landing effortlessly on her feet. She strolled past the fences, hands resting in the pocket on her torso, and Nicky cantering over to her with a mouthful of words she couldn't make out.

She saw Alex smile, not seductively or spitefully. Genuinely. And then she laughed, the sound carrying into the air like a jagged breeze. Piper assumed a joke, and one that must've been _hilarious_ enough to make _Alex_ laugh. She assumed it was hard to do. Something you'd need a talent to do. Piper pressed the rare sight into her hands.

And they started walking to her. All smiles and laughs clean from their faces. They were firm. In their step, in their eyes, in their cheeks. Piper had to stop her teeth from chattering, from the wind that was starting to sink it's claws into her shoulders or from nervousness, she didn't know what. But she pulled her arm across her chest and stretched as they neared, just to feign nonchalance.

"You warm?" Alex adjusted her glasses. Nicky leaned her weight over to pick up an empty bucket and her mask.

"Oh, uh. Yeah." Piper managed to croak out.

"Try not to lie. Bullshit doesn't suit a pretty face like yours." Alex winked a spectacled eye and gestured out to the green with her head.

Piper could've sworn her skin whitened a shade.

And they started. Dewy grass brushing beneath the soles of their shoes.

/

"Wrist snaps," Alex's voice jolted Piper back into reality from whatever cloud of hilarity she floated on. Nicky was sat on a bucket, legs spread, kicking up strands of grass and soil with her cleated toe. The sky's light was sinking down into a pink and orange blend, sun tucking itself away behind congested traffic and buildings. Alex stood off to Nicky's right, glasses resting on her jet black head. Her posture was thick with confidence, even as her weight leaned onto one side and she was freely exchanging a dusty yellow ball from one hand to the other.

 _Ugh._

"Easiest drill in the world," she continued, edged voice heating Piper's bones. She rapidly spun the ball against her side to find her grip and lifted it for Piper to see, the fluent dexterity already mesmerizing the blonde. "You grip it as usual," Alex rounded her pallid fingers around the red laces, barely flaunting her chipped black nail polish. "Drop it to your hip," she let her arm drop dolefully to her side. "And you just snap it."

And just as she explained, she snapped it to Piper, the ball spiraling like mad, directly to her chest. The blonde fumbled with it for a moment, struggling to corral the thing in her glove and tossing it about like a solitary game of hot potato. But when she finally got a hold on it, she could feel Alex's amused gaze burning through her chest.

Then she heard a quiet scoff.

She swallowed thickly.

But before Piper could allow herself to become too self conscious, she found her grip on the seams and snapped her wrist, sending the ball spinning into the catcher's glove.

It veered slightly to the left, which was fine because it was warm ups, but Piper still had frustration stewing in her stomach.

Alex didn't seem to care. As the blonde was snapping the ball to Nicky, who lobbed it back daftly, she was too occupied chipping off what was left of her black nail polish.

 _That_ made Piper upset. Piper wanted this girl's attention. Undivided. Uncompromised. She wanted to _wow_ her. For reasons she couldn't quite put her finger on. But each snap increased in fervor as the blonde grew more and more frustrated with Alex's overt disinterest.

Then she lifted her green gaze and watched the furious snap of the ball make its way to Nicky, making a rich clap into the pocket of her glove. Piper waited for Alex to say something. Something _great._ Something along the lines of _Wow, Piper that was the most flawless wrist snap I've ever seen. It was perfect just like you…._

 _Wait what?_

Piper wrenched herself from the _absurdity_ of her subliminal self and waited for Alex to express her praise, finding her blind grip on the laces to snap it again.

Rather, the brunette walked over to her, putting a hand up to stop her from cocking her wrist back and releasing it, and took the blonde's hand in her easy grasp. Piper's body froze inside and her heart began rattling violently inside her ribs. Her skin became a heated blush as Alex brought her clenched hand in front of them to see.

Piper knew this was going to be a coaching moment. And that's probably all Alex saw this as. Just an innocent coaching gesture that had no intention of giving her _profusely_ blushing student a heart attack. And as much as Piper tried to sear that mentality into her mind with bold lettering , she was further discovering how much she was _completely unable to do that_. Rather than focusing on what Alex's teaching hand was demonstrating and taking her pointed instruction into account, all she could think about was how _soft_ that hand was. Her fingers were clasped loosely around her naked wrist, not squeezing with assertion or authority. Her palm was cold yet tender in sharp contrast to Piper's clammy and clumsy one. Then, she ran her thumb over the tense ridges of Piper's hand, streaking a line of heat there. Piper felt that touch settle deep in her core and she swallowed a forming lump in her closing throat.

Piper knew Alex was most likely saying something pertinent, but _God_ , who could focus when only a hand can make you feel that frail?

"Relax your hand. You're killing the ball." Alex turned the blonde's wrist over to reveal her palm. She pointed to the place where ball and hand met, tapping the spaceless area. "And see this? No daylight. Ease up on your laces." Alex dropped Piper's hand, letting it fall unceremoniously back at her side.

Piper's chest sank when a wry smirk played on Alex's lips.

But she loosened her grip on the laces as instructed and spun it to Nicky, making a painfully soaring arc and veering to the absolute left of the catcher.

Alex smirked again.

"But don't get lazy."

Piper's cheeks went warm.

Alex didn't speak to her for the rest of her warm up. She spent the majority of her time just observing her form. Maybe mentally noting a kink here or there. But all Alex's mind could wander to was who this blonde was. Pulling apart what her _deal_ was. Of course, Alex knew she wasn't supposed to want any part of her and was scolding herself in the self betrayal of indulging in the enemy, but she couldn't help herself. To begin with, Piper was amusing. With all her babbling and the ever-present blush that shaded her cheeks. How words would stop up in her throat whenever she'd ask a question as simple as "Are you warm?" And then how she'd attempt to _lie_. It was fucking _adorable_. It was the easiest thing in the world to fluster her. And it was entertaining as hell to say the least. But what really held Alex's attention was the latent grit that was woven into her body. She assumed it was something people didn't bother to pay attention to, as it drew away from her hypnotic eyes and golden hair, but Alex couldn't shake herself from it. She saw it clear as day during practice. How even when Alex's loyal teammates would jeer the blonde and poke fun at the pitiful thing, she'd shake off the bitterness like harmless dust and press on, with a little more fire in her breath. She saw it now, as she went from wrist snaps to T snaps to scorpions and then to full pitches, her fervor increasing with each drill. Alex could see the girl's core pumping like machinery as she launched one ball after the other and Alex wasn't sure whether to appreciate it or despise it. Alex, though denying her obvious position at every step, was already face to face with an unsettling dilemma. Caught in the middle between her want and dire _need_ to hate Piper and remain loyal to the moral compass of the Lions or to allow herself to be enthralled in the blondes charm and alarming tenacity.

And after all, she _did_ like that in a woman.

As Piper's throws began to decrease in accuracy and they began drawing arcs in their path, Alex called practice. Nicky peeled the mask over her mess of fiery hair, not bothering to unhook her chest piece and clumsy shin guards. Alex brought her glasses down to her nose, collecting the glowing yellow balls that were tucked away behind blades of grass. Nicky hauled her white bucket over her shoulder and started for the creaking gate that waited their arrival.

Piper could hardly fathom that practice had ended so quickly. Time had never slipped from her fingers so easily. And she never received any applause from Alex. Not a word of acclaim had slid from her lips. And as Piper was shuffling the teeth of her cleats across the green, she attempted to convince herself to not care. Because Alex's opinion was the least of her concern.

-Alex was her age.

-And on academic probation.

-And was kind of a jerk.

 _But why was she stooping so low?_

She didn't pester the question any further. She let it simmer in the back of her mind as she passed through the open fence.

Alex shut it behind her, locking it with a brass key she had pulled from her back pocket. Nicky was sprawled out on the dark floor, unhinging the clasps of her gear and stuffing it into a black duffle slumped on its side. Piper gathered her mess of things from her shelf and began packing them into her notorious duffle, cool air nipping the hand she ripped from her glove. The dugout was silent, with the exception of various equipment getting shoved in bags and Alex doodling stars and broken figure eights with the tip of her sneakered toe. Not a word ricocheted off the tin ceiling.

And because of the looming silence, Piper couldn't stop stop flitting her lashes up to see Alex, bored and detached, the blonde hoping she'd meet her fleeting gaze. She'd maybe look up, to seal her tired green eyes with saucered blue ones, causing Piper's heart to hiccup in her chest, and then she'd return to whatever masterpiece she was sketching on the concrete.

Piper wanted conversation. Because as much as Alex presumably didn't like her and as much as she knew exactly which levers to pull in order to make her blush (and never hesitated to wrench each one down with a sated smirk on her face), Piper thought she could be nice.

Or maybe it wasn't that she was nice. Maybe it was Piper's abeyant infatuation with her.

Piper went with the latter.

Nevertheless, the subconscious habit of curious blue eyes stalking the girl's every move was apparent. And Piper was scouring her mind for reasons why.

But it had to happen. Piper was determined to make this girl her friend.

Nicky hopped up from the floor, scuffing off dust from the backs of her pants.

"Alex, let's get a move on." Alex snatched her head up from the patterns of her feet. Nicky slung the tattered strap of the duffle over her shoulder, wincing as its weight dug into her skin and bone. But she bit down the pain and began schlepping out into the empty parking lot, Alex trailing behind.

Then Alex took the hefty baggage from Nicky and both accelerated to a jog, prancing out into the stars.

Piper waited for Alex to turn around and praise her. Tell her she did a good job.

It didn't happen.

/

Alex crept into Red's office, a rolled green sticky note confirming their appointment woven between her fingers. The Russian held her authoritative seat behind her desk and brass nameplate, that announced her threatening name in assertive. She was snarling mouthfuls of foreign words into a phone, the phonetics in each syllable lined with furor. And as more opaque sentences thundered through Red's lips, she took the patient pitcher into account, snapping and pointing to a vacant seat in front of her desk. Alex made her haste-stepped way to her place. She crossed a leg over the other and drummed her fingertips against her denim thigh. She had to swallow down the spooks that shot down her spine when Red raised her voice, even a little. And when the woman hung up, Alex finally allowed her posture to relax.

"Damn, who was that?" Alex released her lips into a shaken smile, eyes darting from side to side. Red was still fiddling with her phone before she responded.

"My niece. She's getting married."

"And?" Red slid her phone across the desk, the thing stopping when it hit a pad of sticky notes.

"I was congratulating her."

Alex tried to drain the perplexity from her face as she straightened her posture once more.

Only a brief moment of silence slipped between the two before Piper walked in, a similar green sticky note folded in her fingers.

"Just in time, Polly Pocket."

Alex peered over her shoulder for a second, a second that was just long enough to take in the blonde's cable knit sweater and then she turned back around, letting her eyes sink behind her lids. Piper took the chair next to her, setting her loaded backpack down between them. She gave a stiff smile to Alex, visibly shaken by her presence. So naturally, Alex took wild advantage of her vulnerability and winked a sultry eye. Piper blushed. Alex scoffed.

"So," The Russian's attention was undivided now. She placed her folded hands on the broad desk in front of her, scarlet nails drumming against her knuckles. "I called you two in here to ask a few questions and remind you of what will come in the future." She placed her glasses on the slim of her nose. She looked over the two of them, exchanging between their expectant faces. Then her eyes settled upon Piper, her cutting gaze etching lines of frost on the blonde's cheeks.

"Piper." She straightened in her seat and the Russian lowered her gaze once more to a pad of paper.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Tell me how is Alex doing with you." Alex's eyes flicked up to Red, who was still paying attention to her notebook and then to a paralyzed Piper. She brought her blue mooned eyes to Alex, whose arms locked into a tense, even though her hands hung limp over the edges of the broad armrests.

She watched her, drilling holes into the blonde's pallid cheeks, waiting for what kind of answer would flounder from her lips.

Piper swallowed.

"Uh. She's good." Piper eased her posture up higher against the back of the chair, still feeling Alex's eyes roving her up and down. "She knows what she's talking about." Alex's arms relaxed. But tightened once again when Red's edged gaze lifted.

"Good. She learned from the best." Her lips plucked into a proud smirk. She tossed the pad aside and leaned her body into the desk, hardening her expression once more. "Now. Business."

A knot formed in Piper's stomach at the way the word _business_ gnarled in her throat. Alex felt Piper's chest cave. But she couldn't roll her eyes or scoff at her. Because Alex felt the same sensation threatening in her's too.

"We are all aware of competition season rolling in around the corner, yes?" The Russian purred, addressing the heads that were nodding weakly in response. "I want you both to be on the mound. But thanks to a little pitcher named Alex," Alex smoldered in her seat when Red used the word _little_ as an epithet to her name. "We only have you, Blondie." Piper bowed her head, as if it was a negative connotation. " _But_ , I trust you," Piper brought up her head again, tilted in consideration. Taking this woman's trust in her hands like glass. "I trust that you will whip this one into shape." Alex inhaled, as if to puff herself up with what little pride hadn't cowered away in Red's presence. "Just like I trust her to do the same to you." Alex released her inflated chest, satisfied with the compensation. "Can you do that for me? Hm?"

"Yes. You have my word." Piper vowed, as if Red was a monarch and her presence was an honor. Which it was.

"Good." She dismissed the blonde, who scrambled out of her seat and bolted out the door. Alex began to arise, but was promptly lowered back into her seat at Red's command.

"Vause, you stay. I'm not done with you." Alex sagged into the cushion, sinking into her body's indentation.

"Yes?" She fiddled with her glasses to regain confidence, but finding none in the black rims and blinking rapidly behind the lenses.

"We have another issue. I thought you should be the first to know." Alex swallowed hard, more fear than honor bursting through her veins.

Alex scooted to the edge of her seat, raising her brows in suspense.

"Vee's back. And out for blood."

That's when Alex's chest finally plummeted into her core.

" _What?"_ Alex flared back in her seat, hands heating in disbelief. "B-but I thought she was suspended." Red shook her head, recounting last year's many incidents with the blasphemous name.

"And you're right. She was suspended. But alas," She tossed her thin glasses across the table, ignoring their harsh skidding across the table. "Suspension is not expulsion, my little _lapushka."_ The diminutive name sickened Alex's stomach. She cradled her head in her hands for a while, allowing the news to seep into her hair and skin. "But that's not the whole of it." Alex's head thrashed to the surface of the conversation, where Red was waiting for her. "They have a new pitcher."

"How fast?"

"Sixty two."

"I throw sixty five."

"How often can you hit your own pitches?"

Alex gulped down a bad taste, grinding down on the inside of her cheek with her seething teeth.

"That's why I need you to suck up whatever resentment you have for this girl. Because she's the one that's going to save your ass in the end." Alex let her head droop to her lap, where her hands were resting like corpses on her thighs. They shared a few moments of silence, the clock's steady ticking filling the spaces in between.

"Okay," Alex sighed, already feeling uneasy at the thought of being _nice_ to her. "When are you going to tell them?" Red blinked aridly, as if the answer was obvious.

"I'm not telling them. _You_ are."

Alex's jagged exhale fluttered in her throat and she closed her eyes, anguished behind her lids. She clamped down again on the shaft in her cheek, this time allowing blood to burst on her tongue.

"I want them up to a 75 minimum by the end of the month. Then, we will talk again." Alex didn't respond. She let the dismissal hang like poison in the air, empty inhales filling her burdened lungs. Red's expression softened when she noticed the stress that crossed the girl's face.

"I'm just as worried as you are. Vee and her girls are another species of beast." Alex inhaled in agreement, remembering their articulated ferocity. More nerves shooting through her hands at news of another pitcher just as good "But you can do this, Vause. I trust you."

Alex never valued someone's trust more than she did then.

/

Thursday's lunch called for oversalted (borderline saline soaked) nachos and undercooked pasta with a dark brown sauce no one knew the contents of. Nevertheless, they crunched down on the nachos and strands of spaghetti, knowing this was all they had to fill their whining stomachs.

With the exception of Alex.

Her appetite dried up after her meeting with Red. Her stomach remained as reserved and voiceless as it had been after her breakfast of eggs (over easy), toast (honeywheat, slightly burnt), and a harsh cup of black coffee (ref. the deplorable discovery of expired milk, 6:20 am, post Alex pouring the rancid chunks down the sink and rasping a curse or two.) But forced herself to at least get a bag of pretzels and a Twix bar, just to curb the hunger that would curse her later.

 _Eh._

She tried to delve into the enriching conversation on the cultivated topic of "How Many Times Nicky Can Get Away with Saying the Word 'pussy' without Getting Caught in Study Hall." But as much as she wanted in on the lunchroom antics, she couldn't dig into the hilarity. Too much was going on in her head. Too much calamity in both places to multitask.

Pennsatucky leaned into Big Boo on her left, peering through the space between Morello's shoulder and Alex's.

"Hey, take a look at Abercrombie and Bitch." Everyone took a moment to glance over their shoulders, returning back to the table with a mix of snickers and groans.

"God, look at them. They're like the Clintons." Big Boo took a disgraced sip of root beer, shaking her head as she downed her fizzy swallow. They were walking over to their table which consisted of a slew of sweater vests, unblemished skin, and packed lunches. All prissy tupperwares with salads, pasta that was _actually cooked,_ and other assumed _gluten free, dairy free, fat free, fun free,_ miscellanea that came at an unreasonable price.

Even from afar, Piper looked perfect. In fact, everyone at that goddamn table always did. Clothed in their trendy button downs and skirts and flats and every other disgusting article of clothing that coincided with the stereotype. Maybe it was her blonde hair that would glare among the shades of brown, or how her laugh carried through the cafeteria like larks in the spring, but Piper always stuck out. With her outfits always well put together, as if thought out weeks in advance, smile lined with pearls, Alex couldn't look at anyone else. She _hated_ how her eyes were so drawn to her. How easy she was on them.

 _Fuck._

Alex took her eyes away, rewashing her vision with the present.

"I bet she has a golden retriever. And eats mild hot wings." Taystee ripped open a packet of skittles, pouring the colors in her hand.

"With a body like that, she don't eat hot wings." Poussey plucked a purple one from Taystee's palm and popped it between her lips.

"Unless they're ' _free range'_." Cindy elongated the phrase "free range", arrogance woven in her mock socialite voice.

They all brought their attention to Larry now, who was taking a generous bite of some sort of green wrap, assumably loaded with _free range_ chicken and other expensive vegetable shit they didn't care to identify. His arms were coated in a tight navy jacket, no wrinkles in sight, and some other button down that made his appearance even snobbier than with the jacket alone.

"He looks like a Ken doll. Got skinny arms like on too." Nicky gnawed on an uncooked noodle that hung loosely from her lips. Eyes keen on his limp looking figure and polished mannerisms.

"Well I mean, the dude's name is _Larry_." Cindy itched the back of her neck and scoffed. They continued to observe the presidential table. Larry had his arm slung around the top of Piper's chair and he was laughing at some comment made by a snotty looking ginger across the way from the two.

And then Piper looked up at him, expectantly, waiting for him to do something with whatever cue was given.

"Oh my god is he goin' in?" Poussey braced Taystee's shoulder, the two fighting over the window of vision between Alex's and Lorna's shoulders.

"Aw man, I think he is," Taystee grinned as she watched Larry finally return Piper's gaze. Now everyone was watching, even Alex. All anticipating the ravishing, passionate kiss to turn the cafeteria into the set of a sappy romance movie.

"Get it, boy." Poussey's words muffled through her lips against her fist, waiting for Larry's move. Everyone was muttering words of hope to themselves, watching the moment unfold before their eyes. And it a quick motion, he planted a shallow kiss on Piper's temple, the blonde's lips unmistakably dissatisfied, even from 30 feet away.

The Lions were disappointed to say the least as well, unimpressed with Larry's weak gesture. Swept up in upset " _Aw, come on"_ s and " _Are you kidding?"_ s and other disapproving remarks.

Larry turned to them, fuming over with what appeared to be a mix of embarrassment and annoyance. Or annoyance caused by embarrassment. His face was too far to tell. But he was rising from his flustered seat and moseying over to him, step after faux calm, fragile-egoed step, with Piper trailing at his hip.

He parked himself at the head of their table, a flat ironed smile pressing itself against his irritated cheeks. Pennsatucky could hardly keep it together, nor could Poussey or Cindy. But everyone else had smiles to mirror his, striking a bitter balance the two contrasting parties.

"Ah, wouldja lookie here. If it isn't Twig and Berry." Big Boo crumbled a bag of Doritos in her calloused palm, taking a gander of his inglorious lack of muscle.

"Hello, ladies. I see you're thoroughly enjoying your-" he stopped to overlook their meals, obviously cheaper and less appealing to the eye or tongue. "lunches." He salted his smile even further, accompanying the broken sentence with a raise of his brows.

"Why yes, dear sir. Care to join our feast?" Nicky scrunched her nose after her impromptu invitation. "Or you've got a boy scout meeting? In that case you can fuck off." She returned the tart smile, feigning a bitter innocence that fawned upon her caustic tone, resting her chin atop her hand. Larry scoffed.

"No, thank you." He chuckled. "But what would be _really_ nice if you could just reign in the obnoxiousness. I'm sure you can keep it together until Tee Ball right?" He tilted his head after the remark, Piper's shoulders sagging at the attack towards their sport. _Her_ sport. He didn't seem to notice, too wrapped up in defending his feeble masculinity and winning this ridiculous, arbitrary showdown.

It was Nicky's turn to scoff.

"What are you, the hall monitor?"

"No, he's a boy scout, remember?" Big Boo reminded. Overblown recollection from a moment ago awakened on Nicky face.

"Ah, my apologies, Cubmaster Sperry. Forgive my forgetfulness." She bowed her eyes and brought a reverent hand to her chest. "In that case, you're entitled to your complaints. We will expedite the altering our ways as you wish. Now, please accept this peace offering, if that's how 'troop reconciliation' works. I don't keep up with your batshit agenda." She blindly unzipped the front pocket of her backpack, still maintaining keen eye contact with Larry, and launched the offering to his chest, an unused tampon, lilac paisley patterns boasting its super absorbency.

Larry fumbled with the gift for a while, botching it from hand to hand as if he was afraid it had _actually touched a human vagina_ and he let it fall to the ground. The whole table was swelling in a chorus of laughter and jeering. And as he finally realized his miserable loss of this standoff, he balled his fists in his pockets like the petulant child they painted him to be, grumbling for Piper to follow in his thundered steps.

"Aw, c'mon, Twiggie! Don't be a puss!" Nicky called after him. Piper hadn't moved from her spot, feet frozen in place, looking almost _amused_ at the situation, forcing her lips down into a disapproving frown but her giggling blue eyes betraying her. She looked at Nicky, whose eyes darted to the blonde's just before Larry realized she wasn't behind him. "Your boyfriend's a pussy, if you didn't know." Then Piper looked to Alex, as if she would be the one to save her from the situation. But all the brunette could do was shrug her shoulders and laugh along with the other lions. Piper's voice was just starting to laugh along with her teammates, but before she could lose herself in the uproar, her hand was captured by an irritated Larry, dragging her away from the scene.

Alex considered the blonde's expression for a while. How it wasn't knotted with faux pride to match her boyfriends. She was actually almost _laughing._ Alex almost liked that.

But of course, she hated her. Just as much as she did before they even met.

She hated her.

Right?

/

Larry was still fuming over the tampon incident.

Piper was still mildly upset about the Tee Ball comment.

But _of course_ , Larry took the reigns on the ranting.

And _of course_ , Piper let him.

They were cruising through traffic in his car, on the drive to the field, faint 80's music whispering through the speakers.

"It was ridiculous! I honestly can't believe that happened." Larry continued his complaints all the way from the school parking lot, knuckles white against the wheel. Piper just nodded, pretending to acknowledge to his woes.

He grumbled to himself more, simmering in his frustration as he flicked up his right turn signal. And when the car fell silent for the first time since they stepped inside, Piper spoke.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" Piper straightened in her seat, making eye contact with the side of his face.

"Yeah?"

"Why did you call softball 'tee ball'? I mean it's not a big deal, I don't care, but was that, _necessary?_ " Piper's voice was already thick with sarcasm but Larry rolled his eyes, as if the question was a drag.

"No, no it's because, it's just," he searched for the right phrases to argue his case, Piper watching him flounder about in unfound words. "It's an easy, grubby, kinda. You know." Piper furrowed her brow.

"No, Larry I don't know." He sighed, easing his foot down a little harder on the gas. "I know you don't like them and I know they don't like me. But that's still _my_ sport you're talking about. I hope you get that." She was bitter now, digging into the offense. "Do you, get that?" She squinted, taking a pause between words. She shifted her body to fully face him now. He shook his head.

"Yeah I mean, but Pipes, are you really getting upset about this?" A short, sour laugh left her lips.

"I could ask the same question about you _pussying over getting touched by a tampon._ "

"Piper, they threw a tampon at me." Larry's voice faltered in more annoyance, but she didn't let up. Not one bit.

"An unused tampon! Larry! It was still in the packing! God." Her voice shrilled in irritation. She let her back fall down on the leather, breathing out the rest of her temper. The car was soundless again. Only the smooth purring of road noise against the tires and a vague commercial cutting through the tension. Piper's eyes found his cheek again. His didn't move from the traffic.

"You can be kind of a self-centered dick sometimes, you know that?"

He didn't address the comment.

/

Alex and Nicky got to the field first, even before the Russian. Nicky unhooked the padlock from the fence after she used her key. They stepped in the empty dugout, hauling in gear, a tee and a white bucket full of softballs, and then they sat, waiting for the rest of the team to pour in.

Alex perched herself along the top of the bench, mindlessly fumbling with the zipper of her jacket. Nicky sat across from her against the fence. Just watching her, curious.

The catcher popped open the lid of the full bucket.

"You've sure been acting civil today. Especially with blondie. You feelin' alright?" She lobbed the yellow ball to Alex, who caught it with ease.

"Actually yeah." She exchanged it in her hands for a minute before tossing it back to Nicky, a shallow gray expression painting her face. Nicky caught the ball with a hand.

"Well?" A wry smile played on Nicky's lips as she tossed it again. Alex forced one as her hands found it in the air. But it faded, sinking down and deepening her expression.

She ran her thumb across the laces before under handing it to Nicky.

"Vee's back." Nicky fumbled with the ball for a moment as the words processed. She gaped down at the ball first, and then brought her disbelief to Alex.

"You're fuckin' with me right." Nicky maintained her lighthearted expression, but the longer she looked at Alex and her unmoving expression, the faster and harder realization pressed down on her.

"Nope. I guess they shortened her suspension. She's playing this season," Alex deadpanned. Nicky's almond eyes flared.

"This is apeshit, after what they did to you n' me? And all that shit with the county?" She recounted how one of her pitchers throw a nasty curveball to her ribcage, and how she smiled this devious smile as Nicky took her free walk to first. And how her shortstop cut up her mitt at districts. Not to mention the time the second baseman tripped Alex on her way back to base, earning her a twisted ankle and a wicked bruise on her hip. All the terrible events from that game began to float to the surface. And how it wasn't until after they lost by two runs that they got found out. Nicky rocketed the ball to the brunette, who deflected it with her forearm.

"Hey careful. I don't have a glove." She rubbed the blazoned area with her numbed fingertips.

"Sorry."

Alex hopped down from her high seat and took a spot on the floor. She reached for the ball and rolled it back to Nicky, who let it stop at her fingertips and placed it back in the bucket.

"So that's why you haven't been pickin' on blondie? Cause Vee's back?" Alex looked down at her hands again.

"As much as team dynamic is everything," She snickered at that for a pathetic moment. "Beating Vee fair and square means more. That's why we have to be nice. As much as we hate her or are at least forcing ourselves to. Because she's basically the only thing bringing this team into competition season." Nicky nodded, reluctant to agree but taking the circumstances into account.

"I'll tolerate her," Alex smiled and blinked slowly, though only ounces of stress lifted off her shoulders. "But only for now, after this-"

Alex didn't actually listen. She just laughed.

/

Piper's hands were a biting cold as sweat froze against her skin. She blew into them, hot air warming them only for a moment.

Nicky was over in the bathroom somewhere, Alex was nowhere to be found. So it was just her in the dugout after practice, burrowing herself into her jacket curled up on the bench, hoping her exhales would warm her. Practice had ended on a good note. She hit a ball clean into left field and caught most every ball that stung against her glove. No one really showed her up or went out of their way to cause her shame. So that alone was considered more than satisfactory.

She gave up on rubbing her hands together for warmth and decided to ball up her fists and tuck them into her sleeves. And she continued to wait. Alone in the cold.

"A little cold?" Piper whipped around and saw Alex, proud and tall, arms folded across her chest with that goddamn smile and darkened green eyes. Body leaned against the fence. Piper smiled, cheeks un-numbing from her blush.

"Yeah. How can your tell?" She shivered. Alex hoisted herself up and off from her post on the wire and she made her way into the dugout.

"Well let's start with the way you're trying to dig a hole in your jacket for warmth." Piper laughed as she watched her pace back and forth, looking the chattering blonde up and down. "Or with the way you can barely look up from you chest in fear of losing any body heat." Piper's blue eyes fluttered up from their cage of lashes to meet her again, this time her neck posturing itself straight to see her towering height entirely. Alex finally shuffled over to the empty spot next to her on the bench. Piper felt a gust of heat swell through her when she sat and faced her. "And the way your lips are almost as red as your cheeks." Alex's eyes locked with the blonde's rosy lips, sinking her gleaming teeth into her own. "I bet they're _freezing."_ Piper instinctively folded them into themselves and her eyes retreated from Alex's inviting expression. Alex laughed. Piper's stomach did a flip.

Alex reached into the depths of her packed and fished out a stick of cherry Chapstick and handed it to Piper. She snapped open the white top and coated her lips with the flavor, _very_ aware of Alex's eyes still piercing into her now warming lips.

"Thank you," Piper passed the stick back to Alex. She plucked it from the blonde's hands and applied some herself, dragging it across her plush lips in slow, tantalizing strokes.

Piper was in trouble. Piper was hypnotized.

Alex popped her lips together with a smack and sealed the lip balm away.

"Anytime."

 _Shit._

/

Piper improved a whole lot during wrist snaps. No more "killing the ball" and she was cautious to leave "daylight" between her palm and the ball, sending each snap to Nicky in tight spirals.

Piper didn't need Alex's approval for those. She knew she was doing a good job.

She breezed through the rest of the drills, maybe one or two going up on the air due to a late release or just a lazy arm. But she picked herself up right where she left off and pressed on. Just like she had been.

Unbeknownst to Piper, Alex was still impressed by that.

They got to full pitches, Piper already visualizing herself on the mound and with a batter in the box.

She was on fire, all of them rocketing into the pocket of Nicky's mitt, she was sure she was flawless. She wound up, kept her arm speed consistent, followed through, right down the middle. Every single time.

But Alex stopped her, confusion surging through Piper's body.

"Blondie, you gotta stop this," She slapped her leg against her thigh in steady beats, Piper becoming more aware of the tingling spot where her glove had struck. "Gives away your timing."

Nicky lobbed the ball back to a visibly discouraged Piper, who paced around herself to think about her habit. Alex smirked, without a trace of snark.

"Don't feel bad I did it too when I was younger. Remember that Nicky?" Piper looked to the catcher.

"Bruises everywhere. People thought she was abused." Piper couldn't help but scoff. Alex just shrugged.

Piper took a moment to breathe before she released it to Nicky once more, making it a point to not slap her thigh.

And she didn't.

"Better." Piper smiled, allowing the approval to settle in her bones. She caught the ball from Nicky with ease, finding her grip on the laces.

"Oh and before I forget," Alex gave Nicky a look, one that disturbed the catcher's posture and made a faint groan echo through the cage of her mask. "Nicky would like to say something."

The catcher drew in a deep sigh, swallowing down an unnecessary curse.

"I'm sorry I threw a tampon at your boyfriend." She took another pause. "And then called him a pussy." Piper laughed. relaxing her stance and shifting her weight to one side.

"It's okay. I was kinda happy you did it." NIcky arched a brow.

"Oh really?"

"Yeah I was kinda pissed when he called softball 'tee ball' so I think it was appropriate in retrospect." Alex glance over at Nicky, who was giving her an approving look.

"Huh. Who knew we'd ever agree on something."

Neither of them knew. Coming from completely opposite ends of the feminine spectrum and had they not shared the same sport, would have never made eye contact at all. But lo and behold, unadulterated agreement. It was nice.

"So your boyfriend not like the whole dyke sport gig for his _straight_ girlfriend?" Alex folded her arms and Piper found her athletic stance once more, smiling all through her pitch, squirming at the word _straight._

 _Why?_

"Eh, not particularly. But I'm not going to pester the issue so long as he stays out of my lane." Nicky caught the ball and sent it flying in to Piper's glove. The blonde shrugged her shoulders, Alex considering her taboo on the subject.

"Pacifism. I can respect that."

Alex smiled at her again before she was sending it back to Nicky. Piper did the same, but wore her's for just a second longer.

/

Piper finished with a ball cruising right into Nicky's glove. Not fast, accurate. Which was fine with everyone.

They made their way back with Nicky's bucket, the sound of the catcher stomping through the green in her hefty gear being the only thing to fill the air. The sun had gone fast to sleep behind the city. All that was left were flashing lights, sparse traffic and the three of them, now packing their things to head home for the night.

Nicky zipped her loaded black duffle with a tight pull and blew a rogue strand of wild hair from her eyes.

"I'm gonna start walkin'. Catch up if you can." She hustled her bag into Alex's side before she continued on her way, a cheeky grin unfolded on her lips. Alex grunted as she staggered to catch her balance, but didn't waste a second swatting the catcher's back and wherever her tempered arms could reach. Nicky turned back around and stuck out her pink tongue, Alex flipping her the bird in return.

Piper couldn't help but smile at the antics, feeling privileged just to be close to it all.

Alex was hauling the white bucket onto the sturdy overhead shelf and onto locking the gate out to the field. Piper had already packed her things, but she was lost in Alex's movement, even in her nonchalance and lifting heavy objects, Piper was lost as _fuck._

Alex noticed not much later when she started wrapping the thick metal chain around the post of the fence and the creaky gate, as if she had eyes in the back of that raven haired head.

"Like what you see, Blondie?"

"Maybe," the girl cocked a thin brow, "But I was just watching you struggle with the bucket. Looked like you could've used some help." Piper grinned and tilted her head, satisfied with the defensiveness that began plaguing Alex's face.

"I was _not_ struggling. You're seeing things, kid." Piper scoffed.

"Yeah, _you_ struggling." Alex let out a bark of a laugh.

"Oh yeah? How about you put it up next week, see if you're so macho." Piper was caught in a steady wave of laughter, happy sounds shading her face and waltzing with the fog in her breath. But her sounds calmed from their fit of banter and she was looking at Alex almost wistfully now, watching as she snapped the padlock shut. Maybe Alex wasn't so scary after all. Maybe they were becoming friends.

Maybe. Piper couldn't assume. Not with Alex.

That friendship would be too sacred for assumptions.

"Alex?"

"Mm." The girl hummed.

"Thank you. For helping me." Piper hoisted her embroidered duffle over her shoulder and flattened her lips into a quaint smile. Alex turned.

"No problem. I should say the same."

"For?" She started walking in conversational steps out into the parking lot, motioning with her head for Piper to follow.

"Well one, for saving my ass in Calc and Econ. And two, for being an easy student." She looked up from her walking feet to address Piper's blushing cheeks. The blonde smiled and her eyes found her cleats again.

"Thanks."

"Sure." Nicky's voice was faint in the distance, words too distant to make out. But a shrieking bus coming to a halt was enough and words weren't necessary to tell Alex to get a move on.

Piper took the cue with grace.

"Have a good night."

"Drive safe, it's gonna rain." Alex called after her, prancing out to the stop and to Nicky who was already boarding, freed shadowy hair rippling behind her.

Piper was sure to be the safest driver in the world that night.

/

 _Thank you all so much for your patience. Don't forget to follow, review, blah blah blah. I hope you all have had a great 2016 so far. More to come ~S_


	7. Chapter 5

_AN: Hey guys! For whatever reason the website was fucking up, but I haven't made an actual update since around January. I was back in therapy for a while and I haven't been able to focus on this but I re read some of it and figured it was good enough to hold on to._

 _I also made a tumblr. Go follow it (link in bio)_

 _Thanks for sticking with me while I clean myself up. ~S_

* * *

Chapter 5

"Alex, what the hell is this?" Morello shifted in her seat to ease the pain of bench patterns imprinting the backs of her thighs. She tucked a strand of mousy hair behind her ear as Alex continued pacing the grimy tile beneath her.

"Yeah, this is kinda trippy, yo." Poussey efforted to deepen her hands inside the shallow pocket of her hoodie. The labored sounds of Pennsatucky chipping away at red drugstore nail polish served as a distraction from the unpleasant setting. Though a poor one, as the mildewy smell reeking from the cracks in the ceiling and floors was far too strong.

Alex groaned and stopped mid-pace.

"Guys, stop. I'll tell you what this is all about when Nicky gets here." She glanced at the rubber watch fastened on her wrist and groaned to see the time.

 _7:15_

"Come on, can't we do this later?" Lorna whined.

"No, this can't wait." Alex said, a bit too aggressively than was necessary, continued pacing. " _Come on, Nicky. Today."_ Impatience twisted tighter in her core.

"Alex, come on, just tell us what's happenin'." Taystee implored. Green eyes rolled into the back of the captain's skull in response.

"She's obviously not tellin' us till Catch shows up so jus' wait a sec." Poussey drew in a breath to preserve patience as well. Taystee smacked her ebony lips together, accompanied by a frustrated head shake.

"P, we in the _boys'_ _locker room_! And if they catch us up in here? I ain't givin' them no hanky panky if they walk in 'n see us. Nuh uh!"

"Like they'd want ' _hanky panky'_ from _you_ ," Cindy barked a sharp laugh and Taystee's hand was quick to ambush her thick shoulder. As conflict escalated between the three outfielders, Alex's patience continued to erode at an alarming pace. As she kept pacing, and as the dwindling amount of patience began to plummet, the recognition of her poor choice in congregation setting emphasized even further how damn _awful_ the whole situation was. With every anxious pace, her sneaker would stick to the floor beneath her, accompanied with the violent, stomach curdling, squeak of rubber and tile. The dingy lighting and permanent haze from sweat that fogged the air made her head reel. And fact that they were in a room that hosted penis fights and (preferably unsaid) testosterone-related miscellanea _really_ made her question the importance of Nicky's presence, or the whole damn meeting altogether.

She checked her watch once more to see if time had decided to comply with her circumstances.

 _7:22_

She grunted at the hour.

"Alright, Nicky should be here soon-"

"Probly somethin' retarded anyhow," Tucky mumbled just out of earshot. Alex's eyes still darted in her direction and pierced clean into her pallid cheeks.

"Sorry, you wanna speak up a little?" Alex took a heated step toward her. Impatience once more began to contort in her ribs. Wringing out the last drops of tolerance with every twist and turn.

"Yeah, this is fuckin dumb." Tucky stood in efforts to meet Alex's towering stance.

"Dumb my ass. Are you the one holding this fucking team together? Have you had anything remotely important to say this whole damn season?"

"Don't matter. Nicky ain't comin'. This meeting is stupid. I got places to be. I'm leavin'." Tucky started elbowing past the pitcher before being forced back down into her seat with a sturdy push of her thin shoulders.

"The fuck you're not!" Alex was still over her and beginning to boil as the other girls in the locker room fell into the hands of chaos.

"Oh, you wanna go, Lurch?" Tucky stood again and gave Alex a hard push, barely causing the tall girl to stagger back at all. The frail shortstop put up a pair of bony dukes and bounced back and forth. Alex maintained her already threatening posture. "Oh, you're gonna regret touchin' me." She sneered. "In the south, we do it different than from what you're used to, City Slick." Alex scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"You're from fucking Pennsylvania." Tucky fumed from every pore in her small frame. And with a growl setting in her comparatively pathetic jaw, she brought a wad of fist to Alex's cheek.

The pitcher recoiled as her reddened cheek began to throb. She brought a hand to the angered place, inhaling a sharp breath through clenched teeth. She wiped a forming clot of blood and deepened her thin brow when she saw the crimson stain on the tips of her pale fingers.

"Come on, Lurch. Show me somethin'." Adrenaline flared all though Tucky's gaunt extremities at the sight of Alex's bleeding cheek. She blew a strand of dark hair that bounced in front of her sight of the tall girl as she continued to give her poor boxer impression. "You too scared or somethin'? Huh?" Alex, still mesmerized by the red on her fingertips, smirked. She glanced at the girl for a moment through her cage of dark lashes before wiping the red smudge on her pants.

Her full attention rested upon Tucky, still bouncing like a ridiculous jelly bean, still expectant for Alex's move. She bounced closer to the pitcher for a moment, in hopes of making her flinch. But Alex scoffed, offering the least amount of respect for the effort. That scoff, unbeknownst to the rest of them, was the very last of Alex's patience.

"If you want a rise out of me so bad," And as green eyes darkened in the already musty light, Tucky was propelling backward against the metal lockers by Alex's effortless hand. More uproar came over the girls as Big Boo and Lorna were prying an agitated, yet terrifyingly collected Alex from a flustered Tucky. And even though the shortstop was obviously rattled by the pitcher's facile attack, she was still yapping empty threats and Alex was still not giving a _shit._

Big Boo dusted her hands and turned to a visibly ruffled Lorna.

"Welp, the swim team comes back in-" she checked the complex face of glass on her wrist. "Ten minutes. I'm sorry, I'm not starting my day with seeing a chlorine-wrinkled jimmy." She heaved her backpack over her broad shoulder. "I'm out."

"Yeah, imma dip outta here too." Poussey shuffled to gather her backpack and leave.

"Yeah, before Alex fuckin' breaks Tucky's jaw or some shit." Cindy was followed by the remaining few Lions as she filled out the archway, deserting a muddled, frustrated Alex.

"Wait, guys no. Come on." She called after them. Tucky saw this opportunity to scuttle away from Alex, distracted by the others leaving. "Seriously?" And after realizing they was no hope of any of them turning around, Alex kicked the side of a locker, big toe complaining not long after. She wiped more florid droplets from the wound on her cheek and after pacing about for a moment longer, decided to abandon her plans of impromptu congregations in high school boys' locker rooms for good.

She started to sling her black bag over her shoulder as more thoughts and concerns pin balled around in her head. And she was fully focused on them as one disappointed foot fell reluctantly in front of the other.

That is, until a pungent whiff of fresh chlorine passed beneath her nose and a mob of wet footsteps began pattering around the corner.

"Fuck."

/

"-And I had to sit in a _fucking_ locker with god knows what was in there, for like thirty minutes."

"Eesh, Jesus." Nicky forced a pained face in attempts to sympathize as best she could with her friend's injured cheek and aching knees. Alex hopped down from her perch on the sink and landed on her feet. She joined the catcher in the spotty mirror, their amusing height difference displayed proudly in their reflection.

"Seriously, where the hell were you?" Nicky turned on her heels and dawdled away from the mirror. She took sudden interest in the paper towel dispenser and continued her idle walk.

'Ehhhh," she pulled a few from the plastic case, wadding brown towels up in her hands for no reason and tossing them in the garbage.

"Come on, Nichols. What could you have been doing that took _all_ of that time." Nicky teetered to her left until she turned to face an expectant Alex. She sighed and flicked her eyes to the musty floor before responding.

"Hot blonde from the cheerleading squad." Alex's pale cheeks flared just as her eyes did for a moment. She released a deep-seated groan and Nicky began filling the air with drowned out apologies.

"Come on, _really_?" Alex bothered her temple as she allowed the lousy excuse to sink in. She inhaled again, using it to unravel the knots forming beneath her pointer finger. "Okay, which blonde was it, cheekbones or minnie mouse." Nicky hesitated before troubling the girl with the answer.

"Minnie." Alex groaned even more as she walked away from the answer. "Nicky, I would've been substantially less annoyed with you if it had been with someone with a voice that's fucking _at least_ audible to the human ear. And also with an IQ a little above 40."

"Hey, don't knock it. You would've done her too if you had the chance." Nicky then gave her a knowing look from beneath clumpy eyelashes. "And besides, with a squeaker like that, at least you _really_ know when you're doing a good job." Alex hummed a hoarse path of agreement between her lips. She ran her tongue across her line of pearled teeth to allow the thought to simmer. Nicky shook her wild head and took Alex's former seat next to the sink.

"Yeah, about that, how _did_ you get the chance?" The tall girl's forming smile abandoned all attempts to maintain a task oriented composure to hear the story, just for now. Nicky laughed snarkily as she cracked her knuckles against her black denim thigh.

"Well, I _thought_ we had agreed on going into the _girl's_ locker room to tell them. So I went in there, right. And lo and behold, Sparkle Tits in all her glory." Alex laughed. "So she saw me and was all like 'Oh I'm sorry I should've taken a stall I didn't realize you were here.'" Nicky struggled to raise her voice to the octave. "So I said I didn't mind and brrroop!" she paved a straight path with her hand to go with the sound effect. "Smooth sailing from there." Alex tipped her head back and chuckled darkly.

"Well I mean, good for you, but you still flaked." Nicky's lips fell askew.. "So when are we gonna tell them."

"Practice. Right before practice." Alex raised the frames of her glasses to her forehead and sucked in a sip of air between her teeth.

"We can try." The wild haired girl nodded and noticed the beginnings of stressed lines disturbing the pitcher's forehead.

"Hey, kid. We're gonna be fine. Don't stress over this." Alex scoffed.

"You just came off of a fucking sex high. That's not fair."

"You want a sex high? What about Blondie, eh?" Alex threw her head back and let out a pungent bark of laughter. But when she returned her chin to level and discovered Nicky's anticipating eyes, she blinked an eye roll.

"Nah. She's too relevant." Nicky furrowed a perplexed brow.

" _Relevant_." Alex took a vacant spot on the other side of the sink and sat cross legged to face Nicky. "She's hot, kinda cute. _Ugh_ , likeable even. Seems pretty _relevant_ to me." She smirked as Alex swayed her head back and forth, agreeing with a slight tilt of head.

"No, relevant as in she's too important to the whole thing right now. She's my stand in and I have to coach her. If I was screwing around with her on the side and god forbid we don't see eye to eye on something, there goes my sex and our fifth year win."

Alex was right for the most part. For the large majority of those who knew Alex, they knew how much she loved sex. And for those who really knew Alex, they knew how much she loved and needed to win. Alex was the kind of person who thrived on the adrenaline triggered from victory. Her competitive core was a heated beast, untamed and with a constant need to be fed. Alex, tough, determined, and executive, was addicted to everything gained from winning. Cheers, pats on the back, hard work paying off and sweat, blood, and tears all finally meaning something. But for those who _really_ knew Alex, they knew that she had a crippling fear of loss. Not the kind of that stemmed from defeat (although Alex _hated_ that), but just loss. Alex, beneath a cold and lovely exterior, was choleric. Passionate. In everything. Sex, winning, relationships. Alex wasn't like Nicky. One fuck and nothing more. Alex _envied_ that of her friend. She would see faces of moans in the janitor's closet pass by her as she went about her day. And as much as she would push everything beneath her surface, she'd never entirely forget. And because of her (former) blinding hatred for the blonde and because she simply was _just that hot_ , Alex knew the sex would be _great_. And Alex knew she would _never_ be able to forget it. She knew she'd become addicted to it. And though she'd never admit it to herself, she knew she'd go in too deep. And eventually, Alex knew Piper would just turn into another lost girl she had to push beneath the surface. Alex didn't want that. For reasons yet unknown.

Alex, tough, determined, and executive was scared of losing Piper. If ever they had the chance.

"I mean, maybe when all this is over." Alex hopped down as the muffled bell rang through the thick bathroom door.

"Huh." Nicky landed on her feet as they plopped onto the tile. "I mean if you won't take her, I certainly will." Alex whipped around to face the cheeky girl.

"Shut up."

/

Everyone was standing when Piper entered room 117A. Chatter amongst her fellow classmates caused a powerful buzz of jumbled words to press against her temples and rattle in her ears. She turned to a scrawny looking boy to her left.

"What's happening?" She tucked a muddled strand of hair behind her ear in wait.

"Seating arrangements. Pay attention." The response rushed from his thin lips as he hastily returned his attention to what the teacher was saying.

"Err, Chapman." Mrs. Bell gave a seat in the back of the room a strong couple of pats. The blonde adjusted the strap of her backpack on her shoulder and roamed over to the lonely seat, navigating through clumps of students attempting to do the same. She allowed her bag to drop like dead weight on the floor next to the dreary seat she surrendered to. Her aching shoulder thanked her for releasing the burden. And because Bell was only on the letter D and she had a while to go, Piper allowed herself to doze into the crook of her elbow. Noises became nothing but a blurry hum, and heavy lashes fluttered down to a close...

 _Nudge._

 _Nudge._

 _Shove._

Piper jolted awake and took her change in surroundings. Chatter levels had hushed into a mild whisper and bumbling bodies had already settled into seats. From the nerves in her left shoulder still vibrating beneath her skin, she drowsily began to shift her gaze and position to that side. Hazy eyes glazed over Bell writing foreign words on the board and a few students on their phones. Until she addressed the shove.

"Oh," Another spike of energy surged through her when she saw Alex's smug expression. Her placid, mossy eyes pierced her, even behind the lenses of thick frames and a deep laugh echoed from her smile at Piper's still torpid state.

"Hey, sleepyhead." Piper wiped the grit from the corners of her eyes, too quickly, because Alex laughed again.

"No need to _preen_ , you look fine." Piper began brushing out her tender blonde locks through her fingers and tried not to wince too much at the pain. "I like tired Piper. She's cute." Alex adjusted the frames on the bridge of her nose. The blonde stopped her brushing to revert her gaze to Alex.

"Ha, thanks." Her fingers continued their harsh motion through her hair and Piper's nose scrunched once more at a knot she came upon. Alex chuckled.

"No, really. She is, you don't believe me?" Piper stopped mid stroke and her hunched posture straightened in faux assumption.

"Really?" Though the word came out dry her rosy lips struggled to keep down a smile.

"Really really." Alex rested the play for a moment. Just before reviving it. "The mascara under your eyes, droopy eyelids, adorable." Piper's cheeks began to blossom in pink and her hand rushed to clean the alleged makeup from beneath her eyes. Alex's raspy laughter blushed Piper's bones.

"I don't ha- Wha-?!"

"Ladies do I need to rearrange you?" Bell's disapproving, yet perpetually aloof voice barked. Piper made herself small while Alex did just the opposite.

"No, we're okay. Just allowing the lesson to uh. Percolate." Alex again adjusted her glasses, this time to feign a glimmer of genius, raising her thin brows for an extra touch of brilliance. Bell continued on with whatever rambling she was distracted from as Alex turned to Piper, doing her best to reattain diligence. She was etching away in a notebook, handwriting neat enough to be a font and notes organized as anything.

Alex smirked.

"Though you do snore up quite the little storm, you know that?" Piper had to eclipse her forming smile again with a blue eye roll. Still focused on her notes.

"Ha ha, funny, I don't snore." Her pencil continued to scratch against the paper and she was still earnestly focusing on what was being written on the whiteboard, though Alex's faint snickering caused Piper's stomach to stir.

"You do too, I was listening. You should get a breathing strip or something." Piper crooked her brow.

"You were listening to me sleep?" The blonde asked, incredulity woven in her voice. Alex stopped for a moment as her smirk fell into her lap.

"Oh, no. No I- I was just-"

"Ha. My turn to make you stutter." Alex cocked an intrigued brow as Piper's sly lips simmered into a satisfied smile.

"Not bad, Chapman." Alex settled into the back of her seat and Piper turned to her. Her once sly smile flourishing into a radiant one, deep blue eyes glistening like lucid, endless ocean. It wasn't cocky or lined with banter, it was genuine. Pure. And so _fucking_ gorgeous.

Alex couldn't help but smile back.

"Yeah?" Piper let the tip of her tongue peek out from her teeth. Alex threw her hands up in defense, nothing to retaliate with.

"Didn't know you were full of surprises."

"Didn't know you were so fascinated."

Alex felt her chest swell when she chuckled, again unable to respond to the blonde's quick response. And as Alex was shaking her head and allowing this innocent mystery bask in her sunshiney glory, she was realizing how _fucked_ she was. As boring as this class was, time was painless as long as she was with this one. She was supposed to _hate_ Piper. Right from the get go, she was supposed to hate her. But the more Piper was unraveling right in the palms of her hands, the harder it was becoming for her to do so. On top of this girl looking like the fair maiden from a renaissance painting, Alex discovered how fucking _fun_ it was to banter with her. How for the first time in her life, she was speechless. Unable to quip back with something better or corner someone in a game of conversational wit. Piper had out-bantered and completely flustered the queen of both banter and collectivity in a single bound, clueless to the feat she had conquered. She had backed Alex into a corner that forced her to question everything, completely unawares and looking damn irresistible while doing it.

And Alex thought _she_ was clever.

She allowed her eyes to stay on the blonde for a few moments longer before her gaze fell into her lap.

" _Too relevant. All in good terms. Just to keep it genuine."_

She reminded herself to leave things the way they were. Too relevant. Too much at stake.

She sank her front teeth into her bottom lip.

"So uh, any other surprises you wanna share with me?"

When Piper's cheeks flushed an addle shade, Alex's effortless smirk returned.

/

Nicky heaved the last of the bags with the catcher's gear on the bench beneath her cubby with a grunt. She dusted her calloused hands on her pants and took a seat on the top next to Alex, watching the girls pull into the empty parking lot.

"You ready for this?" The catcher looked to her tall friend, who was lazily spitting sunflower seeds from the corner of her lip. The pitcher turned to her, inhaled through her nose and chuckled.

"No," she fished in the bag for another good seed and popped it in her mouth. She turned away for a moment and spat out the shell out. "It just brings back so much, you know? That whole game. Everything with that woman, that whole team, just." Nicky hummed and took a fingerfull of seeds for herself.

"Yeah. It's a lot." She crunched. "But _c'est la vie_ or some shit." her americanized french made Alex laugh for a second, before her face returned to a tinge of blue once more as she sighed. Nicky clicked her tongue behind her teeth.

"Hey," Alex met her friend's determined almond eyes. "Better now than later. And also," She blinked away her own apprehension before continuing. "We got each other in here. They can't get mad at _you_. We got _us_. Now's the time to you know, get shit done. Before all hell breaks loose." Alex nodded. Then a smirk was quick to find her wired lips.

"I see you've not changed in the comforting department." Nicky scrunched her freckled nose and shoved a laughing Alex.

"Fuck you, Vause." Nicky's frown was ripping at the seams as she continued to swat at her friend.

"No, no. it's cool. You did pretty good." Alex affectionately pushed the catcher's forehead. From a distance, they heard a sharp whistle, Red's whistle. The two players made eye contact with the sound, chests beginning to bear the weight of what they had to do.

Red's fierce pupils sent lasers to the girls, a small nod of fiery head reminding them of their task.

Nicky nudged Alex's shoulder and motioned to the girls beginning to pile in with their things.

"Ready or not, here we go."

/

"Hey, uh guys." Alex began, apprehension tacking onto pathetic start to _Impromptu Congregation Part II._ She cleared her throat and continued. "Um. We have something important to talk about. Nicky has uh, been so kind to join us, finally." She smirked nervously as Nicky made her presence known. Her pale fingers fiddled with the rims of her glasses for a moment. "So the important thing is that there's someone, well, _familiar._ Making a comeback this season." Alex looked up from her tattered black Chucks to see the team before her, sat upon buckets and on benches, all with perplexity oppressing their faces.

"Vause are you feelin' okay?" Lorna piped with an uneasy smile.

"Yeah uh, you don't look so good. Like you gon' puke up on the floor." Taystee's brows were bent in on each other, visibly uncomfortable at the thought of likely possibility of Alex vomiting.

"Herbal teas are fantastic for indigestion," Crazy Eyes added, only to receive disapproving looks from Cindy and Taystee. Alex struggled with a sour taste in her mouth.

"Guys, I'm fine. Just please, pay attention." She gulped in a breath of air and took a moment to swallow it down. She grappled with the nape of her neck, planning how to phrase the following sentences.

Until she _did_ vomit, all the words she _wasn't_ supposed to say so blatantly.

"Vee's back this season and the county has forgiven her for all the money she took for team booster funds." Alex allowed her head to surrender to gravity. The dugout shrilled in reactions. Frustration, anger, contempt, all in one response.

"But she was suspended! After all the shit she did?!" She could hear Tucky's twang stick out through the voices.

"Yeah, the county just _bought it_?" Big boo stomped a frustrated foot against the dirty floor.

"This thing is rigged, man. This is bullshit!" Poussey smacked her glove against her thigh and ran a panicked palm over her wooly head. Everyone was going off all at once. All ranting, all raving. Alex couldn't catch their attention if she tried. Nicky attempted to calm the riot of lions as well, but to no avail. She turned to the pitcher, already a bundle of nerves and already swarmed with her own response to the whole ordeal. Alex was unable to respond. She just stood before her team, making out whatever words she could in the tumult of reactions.

Nicky finally managed to take things to a physical extent. She took the knob of her and banged it against a nearby bucket. The sound meshed with the voices for a while, but eventually they settled and silence came upon them.

Alex glazed over the sight of everyone's faces again, this time all troubled with the same distress she felt when the news was dropped on her. But she sighed for the thousandth time that day, remembering her responsibility. Remembering to fulfill Red's trust in her.

"I know this is a lot. For everyone." She addressed everyone's gaze. The weight of everything pressing further into the pitcher's hands. "And yeah, this thing is rigged. This is bullshit." She stuffed her hands in her pockets in attempts to warm her freezing extremities. "But in the end, it's _our_ bullshit. The bullshit we've gone through together for the past four years now. Even longer, for those of you who've played middle school and rec ball together." She smirked for a moment to reminisce on her younger days with Nicky, as did the three outfielders, who nudged each other and shared a few smiles. "Vee is fierce. And scary good. But you know. Shit, so are we right?" She scoffed and mustered a weary smile through flattened lips. She looked to Nicky on her left, now sat open legged on a bucket. The catcher gave Alex a subtle nod, for encouragement, to keep going with the awful, cheesy motivation.

It was working, at least. Alex continued, more determined.

"She's gonna try and pull some fucked up shit like she did last season. Worse, even. So now, time is money. Practice is money. Use every resource you can to prepare for whatever fucked up things she might have in store for us. We know how sick she is." Boo grunted in agreement, kicking up a plume of orange dust with the toe of her cleat.

"But guys, for fucks sake, we just need to work together. Relentlessly. Push all the bullshit we have with each other aside," She glanced at Pennsatucky for a second before continuing, who acknowledged her as well. "So we can work through the bullshit that's in front of us now." The team remembered Piper. Unpresent for this meeting, but as Alex addressed this point, it was like the blonde was at the center of the dugout. "I know this 'ecosystem', or whatever the fuck you wanna call it, is what holds us together, but we have to be together for this because this season is going to be nasty and awful and grueling if we don't. I know I don't want to do that," Alex swallowed the lie about having to tolerate Piper and pressed on with the point. "But we have to if we're gonna win." More silence poisoned the air around them. Turmoil was dead. It was just hard pressed news on the foreheads of the girls. Everyone of them swimming with confusion with nothing to do about it than to prepare for the worst.

Alex shifted her weight and once again, acknowledging the gloom before her. "Okay I don't know what else to say so just go practice. I guess." She adjusted her glasses again, unnecessarily so. " _That's all, folks_." She chuckled weakly at the awful conclusion.

And just as things started to return to a remotely normal pace, Piper trotted in.

"Hey guys. What'd I miss?" She asked, innocently, out of breath, noticing the sluggishness of what should've been a normal dugout settle-in. The sea of faces turned to her and fell before her cleated feet, all bleak and heavy. She felt her own chest drop when they did nothing but head for the green. And yet no one had the energy for snide remarks or nasty side eyes. They all passed by her, dejected, tired without exertion. Leaving Piper clueless in the doorway, unable to comprehend their behavior.

She looked to Alex, eyes searching for some answer. Any answer. But Alex had none, she was just as drained as the rest of them.

"Nothing. You're fine." She turned on her heels and made her way to the bleachers to nest. Just as Piper went to the field to work. Both unfocused. Both confused.

/

Piper sent the the ball whizzing into Nicky's glove, beautifully so. With an graceful spin that made yellow and red blend like hypnotic art. And Nicky lobbed the yellow ball back to her, with no effort at all.

The whole time Alex hadn't spoken a word to Piper, except to remind her to "release through the pinky" and to "not finish so closed." Aside, no banter, no smartass comments had escaped her lips since she saw Piper in sitting next to her in class. The blonde tried to make eye contact with her from the field. She tried to send beams of _please look at me I'm trying to impress you_ to Alex, perched up on her usual spot in the top of the bleachers. With her dark head resting on her knees or following the spots of crows that textured the vivid sky. Silent Alex wasn't normal. Silent Alex was borderline _worrying_.

Piper sent another rise ball to Nicky with a hollow smack of leather, looking to Alex for at least a grimace of approval. But the girl was too fascinated with the tattered cloth of her Converse to look up. Piper huffed a warm breath of air and allowed her glove hand to drop to her side.

"Hey, Nicky my shoulders kinda tired. Uh, is it cool if I take a break for a second?" Nicky's face was screened from the black mask on her face. Any and all expressions were obscured behind the metal. But perplexity was still evident in the pebbles of her voice and shrugged shoulders.

"Uh, yeah. Sure." Alex brought forested eyes up to the catcher, who was making her way to a bottle of water leaned up against a fence.

"Yeah, Nic, if you're hot take a break too. Do whatever" Alex called after her. The catcher responded with a distant thumbs up. Alex turned to Piper. Concern vexed the blonde's fair cheeks as did that same concern flood the oceans in her eyes. The expression made Alex's brow twitch. She ignored what looked like sympathy on Piper's, in attempts to keep the lesson in motion.

"How's your shoulder feel?" Alex was trying _so hard_ to ignore the entrancing shade of blue that was drowning in worry.

"I already said it was tired." She responded. The pitcher tilted her head for a moment, attempting to recall the blonde's words.

"Oh." Her green eyes returned the grass beneath her shoes. Piper nudged her broad shoulder with the gentle point of her finger.

"Hey, are you okay?" The beginnings of a frown tugged at Alex's lips.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She released her eyebrows into a light pair of arches, though the dim light in her pupils betrayed them.

"Alex, don't lie come on." Piper offered another, more insistent stamp on the taller girl's shoulder, one that Alex brushed off like dust. She raised her glasses to her forehead to accompany a laden sigh.

"Piper, just leave it. It's nothing-"

"Woah, what happened to your cheek?" The raw mark of crimson on Alex's cheek glowed in the light of the marmalade sky. Poorly applied concealer faded around its edges, visible attempts to hide it behind the thick rims of her glasses. Fresh blood still glistened against the sinking sun. The aching shades of violet beneath it matched the lilac wine in the clouds.

Piper's finger reached to graze the bruised wound, but Alex swept it away, another dismissive sigh rising in her throat.

"I said it's nothing. It's-"

"Fine? Yeah, Alex that doesn't look fine. I have stuff in my bag."

"Piper, I respect the fact that you're trying, I can see that. But don't be dramatic." Piper's heart hiccupped in embarrassment. Alex scoffed, bitterly enough to sour the blood rushing to the blonde's fair, untainted cheeks. "You don't have to full on fucking nose dive into my shit. We're not fucking friends. I'm just teaching you, and you're just learning. Nothing else. God." Piper could've snapped back. Easily. Her tongue was sharp enough, her skin thick enough. But these words coming from Alex were serrated, dipped in poison that made Piper speechless. And they damn borderline hurt. She receded.

"Okay," She tightened her blonde ponytail and cast her eyes to the side. "Sorry I asked." She wandered a few steps away, pulling her arm across her slight frame to stretch her unknotted shoulder. Alex watched as she stretched the other arm, guilt tossing in her ribs.

 _Way to be harsh, Alex._ The bite of her words left a sour sting on the tip of her tongue, but more sour was the confusion about why she even regretted it.

"Wait, Piper." The blonde's chin peered over her shoulder. Alex raked a hand through tangles of raven hair. "Uh. It's starting to throb." She winced at the sub-par excuse. "Again." She felt an eyeroll coming on, but one directed upon herself.

 _Ugh._

"Mind, cleaning it up?" She shifted her weight to her heels, a pathetic grimace surfacing on her cheeks.

Piper turned to face her completely. She mosied on over to her, taunting in her step. But her expression was clean of mischief. It was kind, chaste in a way.

She motioned her head toward the dugout, to her infamous duffle bag.

"Not at all."

/

"So what happened?" Piper squirted a pink dollop of scented hand sanitizer into the center of her palm, the gentle aroma of sweet pea wisped under Alex's nose as Piper rubbed it in. The pitcher was sat cross legged on the bench of chipping green paint, glasses still perched at the crown of her head and cheek still scabbed and open.

Piper rummaged through her bag until she fished out a floral printed pouch. The crisp sound unzipping shrilled beneath her dainty fingers.

"I just got in a fight. It was dumb." Alex blew a strand of hair that threatened to fall to her nose. Piper located a small pad of gauze and splashed it with her water.

"Oh." She cleaned around the area of scab and Alex winced when she pressed to hard on the tender bruise. She then pulled out a small can of saline spray, popping the plastic cap off and shaking vigorously as instructed. Alex's brow creased.

"How much stuff do you have in there?" Piper bent down to meet her mossy eye. She gave a quick, cool spritz of wash and Alex flinched at the icy sting.

" _Lots._ " Piper resealed the cap and dropped it back in the bag. She went back and raked through the contents of the pouch again. The ointment she was supposed to apply next came into account.

She looked to Alex, awaiting whatever sort of treatment would sting or soothe her wound next. Her eyes glanced back at the tube of Neosporin, the final step in the curative procedure and the abrupt exterminator of any further conversation before they continued back on the green.

The setting was too close to perfect. Alex, mesmerizing and undeniably dominant being cared for by the nurturing hand of Piper. The two alone under the colors of dusk, nothing but the overhead lights to keep their space alight. All of it to be terminated by the damned tube of ointment.

The conversation still could flourish, undistracted and uninterrupted. Piper chewed her lip in a brief moment of consideration.

 _But only if she kept the healing process in motion._

Piper forgot the ointment and looked to the facial sunscreen.

She dabbed a white droplet on her finger and walked over to Alex's cheek.

"Tucky." Alex continued, shying away from Piper's touch when she rubbed the cream around the bruise. "We just had some stupid fight and she popped me in the cheek. Her fist is just a wad of bone, nothing but a scratch it's fine."

"Hmm." Piper wiped the remaining sunscreen from her finger onto the black of her pants and returned to her bag.

 _What to use, what to use._

Her eyes fell upon a stick of mint chapstick.

 _Good enough._

She rubbed a wintry swatch on her finger.

"Hey uh. That wasn't cool of me. Just now." Alex blurted, suddenly. The statement made Piper stop midpace to consider the rough beginnings of an apology. An apology from Alex Vause. The girl whose wound she was over-tending to and the girl who she was most terrified of in the world.

Piper finished the two step journey to the girl's cheek.

"I'm sorry for what I said back there. I've just had a rough day." Alex's lashes flitted up to meet Piper's focused gaze. Her fingers stopped their rubbing motion and those vast sapphire eyes began to drown the jade in Alex's.

She smirked.

"No shit. I mean you got punched in the face." The blonde felt Alex's low chuckle ricochet against the small of her back on the walk to her remedies and time slowers.

"Hey, Alex?" She dipped her finger into a bottle of eyedrops.

"Hm."

"What was going on, when I walked in before practice. It seemed heavy." Alex sighed beneath the tip of Piper's wet finger.

"Heavy doesn't even begin." The blonde caught Alex's eye before it could fall to the floor. Lead pupils and dull irises still failed to hush Piper's curiosity.

"Not to be invasive, but what exactly-"

"I can't tell you." Alex cut through the question like a slick knife. No harshness seemed to carry through her words, but they held a weight of stern conviction, which receded into a doleful apology. "I'm sorry just not now, I'm still trying to process it myself."

"No I get it, it's fine." Piper wiped her cold finger on her pants and went back to her quiet search. And when she discovered no other antidote could carry the time, she finally unscrewed the top of the ointment.

She squirted a white tap of the calming cream onto the tip of her finger, looking to Alex in apprehension for a moment before dabbing it on the wound.

"And hey,"

"Hm." Alex hummed again. Piper swallowed an anxious taste that plagued her tongue. And even though her finger remained in motion, her words seemed to stop in her throat before escaping from her lips.

"Are we friends?" The blonde's innocent question held an unexpected weight in Alex's hands. She allowed it to sink into the tips of her fingers, even though it troubled her. She was supposed to hate Piper. She wasn't supposed to get close to Piper. She was too delicate.

She was too _relevant._

But the longer the question remained in the palms of her hands, the easier it was to carry. The harder it was to deny an honest answer.

The corner of the Alex's lip tugged downward.

"I don't like to label things." Alex's clever pupils absorbed Piper's expanse of iris. The color started to drain from endless blue into the color of sheer disappointment.

It was a color Alex never wanted to see in Piper's eyes. But _god,_ Alex was still just as lost.

But a moment later, her lips lurched back into a keen smirk. And from there, they released into that signature Vause laugh, the one that could slice through stained glass and snatch Piper's heart in a single bound.

"I'm just fucking with you. Yeah. Sure." The bright pigment in Piper's eyes revived as they rolled back with the air of a sigh. She couldn't help shake her head and chuckle silently at the cruel joke.

"Fuck you."

"Don't threaten me with a good time." Alex's laugh aroused again in her throat. Piper returned to the floral pouch and uncovered a small bandage, ripping it from the wax paper packing on her way back to the fully dressed wound.

Alex watched Piper fiddle with the adhesive sides of the compress and couldn't help but laugh at the way she'd hiss curses under her frustrated breath.

It was too adorable to deny.

Her devious eyes narrowed into fine slits, lips still shaped in their smirk. "Can I at least get a kiss first?"

Piper spread the bandaid taut across her patient's cheek with a smile forming upon her rosy lips. She tried to maintain a platonic composure, although her her cheeks were heating beneath her fair skin and it was _painfully obvious_ that the other girl had Piper trapped. And because it was so impossible to keep up a friendly facade around someone like Alex Vause, there was nothing to do but comply.

She took a spot of the sliver of bench Alex's crossed legs left. And even though she could feel wood splintering her skin through her pants, the fact that her burning face was _so fucking close_ Alex's was distraction enough.

Alex couldn't believe what she was doing. Alex was _joking._ Piper was _crazy._ She wasn't supposed to do that. Both of them knew well enough that she wasn't supposed to do that. Alex wanted to turn her cheek, tell her no, and sprint past the field, catch the soonest bus and make it for the hills. But _god_ , it was too hard to coax her heart back down into her chest, stop her stomach from floundering inside, and to stop her own cheeks from rising in color.

 _Why was she getting nervous?_

Alex was near frozen. The only thing she could move were her eyes to watch Piper graze her lip against her's, and to let them flutter to a close.

Piper wasn't supposed to be doing that. And yet there she was, allowing, and hell, even _thirsting_ for it.

The blonde's opened her eyes, kissed the tips of her fingers, and pressed them to the band aid on Alex's anxious cheek.

"Okay, you're all set." Alex's eyes darted open, to see a smiling Piper, looking too proud of her clever little trick. Her jaw fell open. Alex Vause, for the third time that day, had been played.

"Aw, come on!" A laugh shrilled from Piper's contented chest and Alex shook her head, helpless and yet laughing along with her.

"Doctors don't mess with their patients." Piper's lips folded in on each other, still perched in a clever grin. Alex's eyes fell on Piper's lips for another moment, almost bemoaning the fact they didn't touch her's.

"Fair enough." Alex shrugged and held out a sardonic hand. "Thank you, Dr. Chapman."

"My pleasure." Piper shook it.

It took a moment for them to break the gaze they refused to let go of.

Nicky's fuzzy head peered out from around the gate. "Hey, lesbo love bunnies. We got ten minutes 'till security shows up." Alex shifted her gaze to Piper for another second before arising. She clasped her hands above her head and careened back to stretch. The blonde remained on the sliver of her seat for a second, just watching Alex bend the knots out of her spine and allowing the girl's soft groans rattle in her bones.

The tall girl turned over her shoulder and motioned with her head to walk in front of her. Piper scrambled to her feet to make it to the green, but mostly to catch a walk by herself. To fathom the fact that she almost _kissed Alex Motherfucking Vause._

She traveled alone to where Nicky was sat on her bucket, mind still tumbling in her skull, lips trembling gently where they swept across Alex's. She bit the inside of it to stop its soft quivering.

But she couldn't help but laugh at the smart little trick she played. It outwitted Alex, which was an achievement already. And she did feel satisfied, hell even proud. But her silent laughter came from a place of panic. What would've happened if they kissed back there? Piper's chest warmed at the thought of Alex's fingers tugging at her disheveled ponytail. Skilled hand reaching for the button of her pants...

 _So much for being just friends._

Piper drove the thoughts from her wild imagination. And just as she thought all traces of Alex were gone, she heard feet prancing against lush grass behind her.

Alex nudged her shoulder, smirking and panting.

"And uh, hey Doc,- Since when do you need sunscreen to dress a wound?"

 _Shit._

* * *

 _AN: I was supposed to post this chapter this weekend after not touching this for so long, but I went on an impromptu road trip to North Carolina with some friends instead, oops. Seriously, we were supposed to go to the mall but plans changed (evidently.) But it was so amazing we got there at like three in the fucking morning and stargazed and drove through the mountains and ran around in nature and yelled at the sky when it rained. And then when the sun came up we jumped in this lake and froze our asses off and just fucked around and didn't give a shit and it was the best._

 _Anyway, thanks again for reading. You guys are really the best. ~S_


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